Encouraging more health workers to be vaccinated against influenza requires a new approach that connects emotionally

Persuading more health workers to be vaccinated against the flu to protect themselves and their patients can only be done through facts and statistics, a new study by a leading scientist University of Kingston. Instead, it requires a new approach that emotionally connects people to keep vaccination rates at effective levels.

Nearly one-third of nurses, GPs and other health professionals surveyed by Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Kingston Business School, and co-investigator, Dr. George Kassianos, National Immunization Manager at Royal College of General Practitioners, were reluctant to the idea the vaccine.

The European Commission estimates that the number of deaths from influenza is higher than that caused by car accidents on the continent each year. Yet about 100 million people recommended for influenza vaccine do not go there every year despite recommendations from the World Health Organization and Public Health England. .

The research involved health workers from six European countries: UK, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Italy. The goal was to learn what motivates people to get vaccinated and what makes them reluctant to do so. Understanding the reasons for this reluctance to vaccinate would help develop effective interventions to induce behavioral change, explained Professor Vallée-Tourangeau.

"Studies have already shown that the vital benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks of adverse effects, but some people are still reluctant to do so, so something else is happening," said the professor. Vallée-Tourangeau.

"About one-third of the health workers we interviewed – 32% – were not sure if they were getting the flu shot. While this means that the majority of workers are motivated to get vaccinated, it is important to listen to and support those who remain undecided. We also found that if an employee knew that his supervisor had been vaccinated, he was more likely to do so himself, "she said.

The research team developed a tool to assess health workers' views on immunization in four areas: if it seemed important to them; they thought it would make a difference; they felt they had the choice to do so; and they had the knowledge to do it. The results showed that if health workers achieved high scores in all of these areas, they were highly likely to be vaccinated and asked others to do so.

"We wanted to approach the problem from a new angle, rather than trying to get vaccinated as a rational decision-making process, we wanted to understand the motivation – why would anybody want to do it," said Professor Vallée. -Tourangeau.

Last year, 68.7% of NHS front-line staff were vaccinated free of charge against the flu. This fall, NHS Employers is rolling out its influenza campaign for the third year in a row to encourage more health workers to do the same. Dr Kassianos, chairman of the pan-European RAISE committee (Raise Awareness on Influenza Strategies in Europe), said it was crucial to continue to find effective ways to address concerns about the vaccine, particularly among general practitioners and nurses, who play such an important role. in the decisions of their patients and in wider acceptance and advocacy. "The concerns of health care workers who are reluctant to be vaccinated against influenza need to be better understood and real efforts must be made to understand their concerns and help them choose to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their patients, their families and their families. colleagues, their family and their friends, "Dr. Kassianos said.

Professor Vallée-Tourangeau invited the NHS and other major health care employers in Europe to take the time to listen to employees' concerns about the influenza vaccine and to take action to address it, including beyond the mere use of financial incentives for health care trusts. "We need to improve communication around immunization by trying to understand the psychological and cultural roots of vaccine hesitancy and tackling these problems," said Professor Vallée- Tourangeau.

"To ensure the type of long-term adherence necessary to maintain vaccination rates at an effective level, we must ensure that health workers do not undergo injection. Hesitation, the information does not solve the problem – the statistics alone are not enough to allay the worries, it's about connecting emotionally, "she added.

The research was published in the latest special issue of the medical journal Vaccine.

Professor Vallée-Tourangeau is now working with colleagues from the Decisions, Attitudes, Risks and Thoughts research group at the University of Kingston to develop a toolkit for health sector employers to to help them reduce vaccine hesitancy among their employees.

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More information:
George Kassianos et al. Drivers of influenza immunization and advocacy for immunization among health workers: a comparative study in six European countries, Vaccine (2018). DOI: 10.1016 / j.vaccine.2018.02.031