Attitudes, behaviours and barriers to public health measures for COVID-19: a survey to inform public health messaging

Abstract

Background Public support of public health measures including physical distancing, masking, staying home while sick, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and contact tracing/exposure notification applications remains critical for reducing spread of COVID-19. The aim of our work was to understand current behaviours and attitudes towards public health measures as well as barriers individuals face in following public health measures. We also sought to identify attitudes persons have regarding a COVID-19 vaccine and reasons why they may not accept a vaccine. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in August 2020, in Alberta, Canada in persons 18 years and older. This survey evaluated current behaviours, barriers and attitudes towards public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine. Cluster analysis was used to identify key patterns that summarize data variations among observations. Results Of the 60 total respondents, the majority of persons were always or often physically distancing (73%), masking (65%) and staying home while sick (67%). Bars/pubs/lounges or nightclubs were visited rarely or never by 63% of respondents. Persons identified staying home while sick to provide the highest benefit (83%) in reducing spread of COVID-19. There were a large proportion of persons who had not downloaded or used a contact tracing/exposure notification app (77%) and who would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine when available (20%) or were unsure (12%). Reporting health authorities as most trusted sources of health information was associated with greater percentage of potential uptake of vaccine but not related to contact tracing app download and use. Individuals with lower concern of getting and spreading COVID-19 showed the least uptake of public health measures except for avoiding public places such as bars. Lower concern regarding COVID-19 was also associated with more negative responses to taking a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion These results suggest informational frames and themes focusing on individual risks, highlighting concern for COVID-19 and targeting improving trust for health authorities may be most effective in increasing public health measures. With the ultimate goal of preventing spread of COVID-19, understanding persons’ attitudes towards both public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine remains critical to addressing barriers and implementing targeted interventions and messaging to improve uptake.

COVID-19 Vaccine–Related Attitudes and Beliefs in Canada: National Cross-sectional Survey and Cluster Analysis

“…We considered factors that could be associated with vaccine hesitancy in each of the domains of the SAGE framework (contextual influences, individual and group influences, and vaccine-specific factors) [ 8 ] based on a review of the literature, focus groups [ 4 ], and a pilot survey [ 5 ] that we completed in Alberta, Canada in the summer of 2020. For contextual influences, we determined demographic factors, including sex, age, geographical region, household income, highest level of education, ethnicity, and political leaning.…”

“…In the summer of 2020, we designed a mixed methods study to examine COVID-19 attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among Canadians with an overreaching goal of informing targeted public health messaging to improve adherence to NPIs and vaccine uptake. We have previously published the initial phases of this mixed methods study including a pilot survey [ 5 ] and a qualitative study [ 4 ]. This preliminary work found that there were mixed views regarding willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine and identified a number of risk factors with respect to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, including low perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, vaccine-specific concerns, low adherence to NPIs, and sources of COVID-19 information [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…We have previously published the initial phases of this mixed methods study including a pilot survey [ 5 ] and a qualitative study [ 4 ]. This preliminary work found that there were mixed views regarding willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine and identified a number of risk factors with respect to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, including low perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, vaccine-specific concerns, low adherence to NPIs, and sources of COVID-19 information [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Based on the findings from the initial work in our mixed methods study [ 4 , 5 ], we designed a national survey to further explore the risk factors for vaccine hesitancy to identify segmented populations of individuals with vaccine hesitancy to inform targeted public health messaging campaigns. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify which groups of people are more or less likely to take a COVID-19 vaccine among Canadian adults, (2) determine which attitudes toward COVID-19 are associated with vaccine hesitancy, (3) determine if vaccine hesitancy is associated with adherence to NPIs for COVID-19, and (4) evaluate the relationship between persons’ vaccine attitudes and their sources of COVID-19 information.…”

Characterization of non-adopters of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions through a national cross-sectional survey to assess attitudes and behaviours

“…S1 ) was used to assess respondents’ self-reported adherence to NPIs including physical distancing, masking, avoiding public spaces and staying home when sick as methods to reduce spread of COVID-19. This survey was informed by an online survey and focus groups conducted in Alberta, Canada by the research team 57 , 58 . Information on sociodemographic factors, attitudes towards COVID-19 and NPIs as well as risk and trust measures were collected.…”