Combating Vaccine Hesitancy with Vaccine-Preventable Disease Familiarization: An Interview and Curriculum Intervention for College Students

Abstract

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed vaccine hesitancy in its top ten threats to global health. Vaccine hesitancy is a “delay in acceptance or refusal to vaccinate despite availability of vaccination services”. Urban areas with large amounts of vaccine hesitancy are at risk for the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Many vaccine-hesitant (VH) parents may be unfamiliar with the consequences of VPDs, and thus might be swayed when confronted with the symptoms and dangers of VPDs. As such, we sought to educate college students (future parents) in an urban vaccine-hesitant hotspot by assigning them to interview family or community members who had experienced a VPD. Student vaccine attitudes were assessed by surveys before and after the interviews. Vaccine-hesitant students who conducted a VPD interview but received no additional vaccine educational materials were significantly more likely (interaction term p < 0.001) to become pro-vaccine (PV) (68%) than students who conducted an autoimmune interview and received no additional educational materials. Additionally, students whose interviewees experienced intense physical suffering or physical limitations or students who were enrolled in a course with intensive VPD and vaccine curriculum had significantly increased vaccine attitudes. This suggests that introducing students to VPDs can decrease vaccine hesitancy.

New Caledonian biology teachers’ opinions about vaccination: Preliminary findings

“…Modifying the biology curriculum could also be a strategy to improve teachers' knowledge and opinions about vaccination. Increasing familiarity with vaccine-preventable diseases has been shown to lead to improved attitudes about vaccination for students (Johnson et al, 2019). Yet another strategy might be to develop specific resources for teachers for teaching about vaccination which take into account the most common controversies about vaccines and how these are used by the anti-vaccination movement.…”

Influences on Attitudes regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States

“…Our previous work explored strategies for improving opinions about vaccines among vaccine-hesitant students. We found that focusing on the physical, social, and emotional impacts of the diseases, either by having students interview someone who had suffered from a vaccine-preventable disease, or by taking a course with a heavy focus on the diseases that can be prevented by vaccination, significantly improved attitudes towards vaccines in the vaccine-hesitant students [13]. A study of elderly adults in the United States found that access to health information was a positive predictor for receiving vaccines [14].…”

Influences on Attitudes Regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States

“…Our previous work explored strategies for improving opinions about vaccines among vaccine-hesitant college students. We found that focusing on the physical, social and emotional impacts of the diseases, either by having students interview someone who had suffered from a vaccine-preventable disease, or by taking a course with a heavy focus on the diseases that can be prevented by vaccination, significantly improved attitudes towards vaccines in the vaccine-hesitant students [ 13 ]. A study of elderly adults in the United States found that access to health information was a positive predictor for receiving vaccines [ 14 ].…”