Impact of educational interventions on adolescent attitudes and knowledge regarding vaccination: A pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundCurrent immunisation levels in England currently fall slightly below the threshold recommended by the World Health Organization, and the three-year trend for vaccination uptake is downwards. Attitudes towards vaccination can affect future decisions on whether or not to vaccinate, and this can have significant public health implications. Interventions can impact future vaccination decisions, and these interventions can take several forms. Relatively little work has been reported on the use of vaccination interventions in young people, who form the next generation of individuals likely to make vaccination decisions.MethodWe investigated the impact of two different types of educational intervention on attitudes towards vaccination in young people in England. A cohort of young people (n = 63) was recruited via a local school. This group was divided into three sub-groups; one (n = 21) received a presentation-based intervention, one (n = 26) received an interactive simulation-based intervention, and the third (n = 16) received no intervention. Participants supplied information on (1) their attitudes towards vaccination, and (2) their information needs and views on personal choice concerning vaccination, at three time points: immediately before and after the intervention, and after six months.ResultsNeither intervention had a significant effect on participants’ attitudes towards vaccination. However, the group receiving the presentation-based intervention saw a sustained uplift in confidence about information needs, which was not observed in the simulation-based intervention group.DiscussionOur findings with young people are consistent with previous work on vaccination interventions aimed at adults, which have shown limited effectiveness, and which can actually reduce intention to vaccinate. Our findings on the most effective mode of delivery for the intervention should inform future discussion in the growing “games for health” domain, which proposes the use of interactive digital resources in healthcare education.

Barriers and enablers to adolescent self-consent for vaccination: A mixed-methods evidence synthesis

“…All used questionnaires to elicit responses from study participants. Participants comprised young people in eight of the studies [27], [34], [36], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], parents of adolescents in four studies [32], [39], [41], [43], healthcare professionals in two studies [37], [38], and two studies were related to healthcare organisations [35], [44] (Table 1).…”

“…Of the studies reporting primarily quantitative data in relation to self-consent, all studies were classified as being at ‘high’ risk of bias [27], [32], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], resulting from the use of descriptive, cross-sectional questionnaires that elicited subjective information from participants at a single time-point (Table 3).…”

Interventions to help people understand community immunity: A systematic review

“…The community immunity component was not evaluated independently. Three studies out of five that assessed attitudes (1 high quality, 1 medium quality, 3 low quality) showed the intervention shifted attitudes more in favour of vaccination [36][37][38][39][40]. One study (high-quality) of an intervention specifically about community immunity showed an increase in intentions to vaccinate when the intervention was interactive and the concept of community immunity was explained [32].…”

Satisfaction and Motivation of Adolescents Attending a Comprehensive Teenage Health Services of Nasyiatul Aisyiyah

“…ICHT 2019 [15]. Regarding nutritional service, adolescents will get several pieces of information about nutrition.…”