Vaccine Communication Training

Why is this Program Important?

Vaccine hesitancy is a global priority with many global partners working toward a solution. Vaccines have the power to prevent 2 – 3 million deaths every year, making them one of the most cost-effective public health interventions crucial to achieving optimal health, education, and economic development as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, many caregivers are choosing not to have their children vaccinated, and research shows that poor provider-patient interactions are one of the leading causes of vaccine refusal. We also know that most formal pre-service/medical school training does not prepare pro-viders to communicate immunization knowledge to patients and that once in the workforce frontline vaccinators are generally ill-equipped to discuss vaccinology, risks, and diseases prevented by vaccines particularly for newer vaccines available in their market.

According to the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Vaccine Hesitancy Working Group report released in 2014, vaccine hesitancy is context specific and requires attention and research from low-, middle-, and high-income countries to assess and determine best practices. Current strategies to address vaccine hesitancy at the provider level have predominantly engaged public sector health work-ers (e.g. WHO’s Global Mid-Level Management Modules and Immunization in Practice- A practical Guide for Health Staff) using traditional training approaches such as didactic, lengthy in-person trainings. As such, many countries with an active private sector are seeing increased disparity in immunization services across sectors, as well as impacts of mixed messaging and siloed engagement from global partners, governments, and the scientific medical community that leave the private sector without the support it needs to combat hesitancy.

Who Can Benefit?

• Ministries of Health
• Private sector monitoring/licensing bodies
• Hospitals
• Clinic networks
• Medical schools & training institutions
• Providers who give vaccines e.g.
  • Pediatrician
  • Nurse/midwife
  • General practitioner
  • Family physician
    
    

Program Details

The Vaccine Communications training is a skills-based “mixed-methods” training curriculum that is built on the principal that with appropriate knowledge of vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases, vaccinators will be able to communicate effectively with patients and improve immunization uptake.

The training curriculum is built on adult learning methods and is blended in format and is meant to be usable to busy health workers. It includes basic vaccinology (focusing on the current state of immunizations), knowledge on vaccine preventable dis-eases, newly introduced vaccines and the reasons, advocacy 101, and effective communication strategies including motivational interviewing.

The training is meant to build a cohort of trained vaccinators that can serve as champions for further dissemination and monitor-ing. Capacity building around this cohort could be offered as an additional “service”.

How is the Program Implemented?

The Vaccine Communication training is designed to be an in-per-son training workshop. The maximum number of participants per workshop session is 24. The workshop is a two-day full-day workshop made up of didactic and interactive sessions to allow for introducing knowledge and concepts and practice.