Supporting US healthcare providers for successful vaccine communication

Abstract

Background While many healthcare providers (HCPs) have navigated patients’ vaccine concerns and questions prior to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, sentiments surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines have presented new and distinct challenges. Objective To understand the provider experience of counseling patients about COVID-19 vaccinations, aspects of the pandemic environment that impacted vaccine trust, and communication strategies providers found supportive of patient vaccine education. Methods 7 focus groups of healthcare providers were conducted and recorded during December 2021 and January 2022, at the height of the Omicron wave in the United States. Recordings were transcribed, and iterative coding and analysis was applied. Results 44 focus group participants representing 24 US states with the majority (80%) fully vaccinated at the time of data collection. Most participants were doctors (34%) or physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners (34%). The negative impact of COVID-19 misinformation on patient-provider communication at both intrapersonal and interpersonal levels as well as barriers and facilitators to patient vaccine uptake are reported. People or sources that play a role in health communication (“messengers”) and persuasive messages that impact behavior or attitudes towards vaccination (“messages”) are described. Providers expressed frustration in the need to continuously address vaccine misinformation in clinical appointments among patients who remained unvaccinated. Many providers found value in resources that provided up-to-date and evidence-based information as COVID-19 guidelines continued to change. Additionally, providers indicated that patient-facing materials designed to support vaccination education were not frequently available, but they were the most valuable to providers in a changing information environment. Conclusions While vaccine decision-making is complex and hinges on diverse factors such as health care access (i.e., convenience, expense) and individual knowledge, providers can play a major role in navigating these factors with their patients. But to strengthen provider vaccine communication and promote vaccine uptake, a comprehensive communication infrastructure must be sustained to support the patient-provider dyad. The findings provide recommendations to maintain an environment that facilitates effective provider-patient communication at the community, organizational and policy levels. There is a need for a unified multisectoral response to reinforce the recommendations in patient settings.

Government-Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Collaboration in Macao’s COVID-19 Vaccine Promotion: Social Media Case Study

“…Unlike previous studies that predominantly focused on single aspects of vaccine communication (eg, [ 17 , 34 ]), this study used a more holistic approach to reveal the role of various actors including the government, professional media, alternative media, civil organizations, and regular users in promoting vaccination agendas and the interplay of diverse actors in the vaccine agenda setting process. The results of this study suggest that professional media acts as more than simple information providers to the government but rather effectively pushed agenda setting as a supplementary process to vaccine promotion by raising salient topics that the government fails to identify due to lack of information and experience.…”

“…Vaccine communication plays a vital role in addressing public concerns, building trust, and encouraging vaccine uptake. Specifically, effective strategies including trusted sources, health provider guidance, a reasonable quantity of information, cultural tailoring, information contextualization, and cultural sensitivity have the potential to significantly increase vaccination intent [ 15 - 17 ]. Despite the notable antagonism in the discourse surrounding immunization on social media [ 18 ], it is worth noting that social media campaigns initiated by health organizations have proven to be effective in increasing public awareness about vaccination [ 19 ].…”

A Snapshot of COVID-19 Vaccine Discourse Related to Ethnic Minority Communities in the United Kingdom Between January and April 2022: Mixed Methods Analysis

“…Minority communities may have a greater trust in information obtained from peers from similar cultural groups [ 26 ] and trusted community sources [ 55 ]. Hence, it is critical that communication strategies are not only culturally sensitive and tailored toward individual groups but also use trusted sources of information.…”

Vaccination Approaches of Primary Healthcare Personnel and Their Communication Levels with Parents Having Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy

“…Vaccines that parent with vaccine hesitancy do not want to be administered to their positive approaches [25][26][27]. In Türkiye, at family health centers, family physicians and family health workers monitor infant, child, and individual vaccinations [21,25,28].…”