Anna Olsavsky, PhD is a research scientist at the Center for Biobehavioral Health and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Her project focuses on Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants (HCT), which is an intensive, yet potentially curative treatment for pediatric cancer and other rare diseases.
“Due to lengthy hospitalizations, family separation, detachment from social support and complex medical regimens, HCT is linked to post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression in caregivers. Few interventions exist for families during pediatric HCT, and those that do exist often require lengthy, in-person sessions and focus on just one caregiver,” says Olsavsky. “However, co-caregivers are known to play a key role in caregiver and child wellbeing. Thus, we are developing an intervention to mitigate caregiver distress and support co-caregivers’ dyadic coping during the HCT process.” Olsavsky’s project is designed to help understand health care providers’ feedback about a mobile health tool to help reduce stress and improve coping for caregivers of children going through HCT.
The mHealth Dyadic Coping Intervention, an app being developed for this study, will collect data from focus groups lead by providers to receive feedback for further development of app content and ideas for implementation in clinical settings. Olsavsky plans on using her Spark Award to pay for the services of the Biobehavioral Outcomes Core, which will include the facilitation of three focus groups as well as transcription of focus group audio.
Congratulations to Anna Olsavsky on receiving a Spark Award and using it to help the caregivers of children with pediatric ailments. If you are interested in applying for a Spark Award, applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until May 15, 2025, or until funds are exhausted. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/spark2025.
Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute.