A Post-Donation Motivational Interview with Implementation Intentions Enhances BloodDonor Identity

SINCLAIR-MIRACLE, KADIAN, Ph.D., December 2015, Psychology A Post-Donation Motivational Interview with Implementation Intentions Enhances Blood Donor Identity Director of Dissertation: Christopher R. France Background: Individuals who donate blood are presented with unique challenges to continuing their donation career such as managing existing fears, perceived lifestyle barriers (such as work or family commitments), and even moving past prior negative donation experiences. Donors must persist through several donations and gain experience throughout the process to internalize the role and expectations of being a blood donor. As such, donors may benefit from interventions which not only increase their ability to overcome perceived barriers to repeat donation but which also enhance their identity as a blood donor. The current research project examined the effect of a post-donation motivational interviewing intervention with implementation intentions on blood donor identity, and donation related intention, as well as actual repeat donation behavior. Study Design and Methods: 142 females and 53 males who ranged in age from 18 to 72 years (Mean = 37.2; SD = 13.5) were recruited from Hoxworth Blood Center in the Cincinnati, Ohio region between October 2013 and January 2015. Following completion of baseline questionnaires, participants were randomly assigned to a postdonation motivational interview with implementation intentions (MI+II) or a nointerview control group and received a telephone call. Participants in the MI+II group completed a brief telephone (<18 minute) interview designed to promote and clarify 4 intrinsic motivations for donating, explore how donating blood fits in with their goals and values, address barriers that may prevent future donation and develop individualized implementation action plans to promote repeat donation. They were then asked to complete follow-up questionnaires regarding blood donor identity, donation intention, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, anxiety, and personal moral norms. Participants in the no-interview control group were simply asked to complete the same series of follow-up questionnaires one month later. Repeat donation attempts were examined for 12 months from the index donation for all participants using the Hoxworth Blood Center donor database. Results: A series of ANCOVA analyses revealed that donors in the MI+II group reported higher levels of autonomous regulation, F (1, 195) = 4.8, p = . 03, greater intention to provide a future donation, F (1, 195) = 7.6, p = . 01, more positive attitudes towards donation, F (1, 195) = 6.4, p = . 01 and greater personal moral norms, F (1, 195) = 13.7, p = . 00. Further, chi-square analyses revealed that while the MI+II intervention did not produce an effect for the overall MI+II group, it was associated with higher rates of return among females donors with five or greater prior donations who received the intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The application of a MI+II intervention may be an effective strategy for enhancing blood donor identity, as well as socio-cognitive factors impacting donor intention and attitude, and may be a particularly useful tool for promoting retention among select groups of existing donors.