Influenza Vaccination Strategy and Recommendations (Research Paper Sample)

Influenza Vaccination Strategy and Recommendations Prepared by: Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Prepared for: The Director of the College Health Clinic Date of Submission Executive Summary Increasing influenza vaccination rates in the general population is one of the key priorities of any public health department in contemporary times. The WHO reported in 2019 that vaccine hesitancy was one of the top ten threats to public health in the 21st century. This is evident in the low flu vaccine uptake rates even in the United States, one of the most developed economies globally. Young people have the lowest flu vaccine uptake, and this has been associated with a complex array of factors, including their lack of knowledge, lack of healthcare trust, and the belief that they are not at risk. About half of the adult population in the United States is hesitant and not planning to receive the flu vaccine in the near future. In disadvantaged neighborhoods, the percentage of those that have not taken the flu vaccine is higher. This report looks at this challenge from the behavioral change perspective and proposes a holistic strategy that will include interventions implemented in primary care institutions, learning institutions, and internet platforms. These interventions aim to improve young people’s knowledge about flu vaccines and change the vaccination behaviors in this target group. The theory of planned behaviors, the social cognition theory, and the health belief model are the main theoretical frameworks incorporated into the strategy formulation and implementation proposal. Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc136863790 \h i Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc136863791 \h ii Introduction PAGEREF _Toc136863792 \h 1 Strategic Options to Improve Influenza Vaccination PAGEREF _Toc136863793 \h 3 Vaccination Promotion Campaigns Based on Primary Care PAGEREF _Toc136863794 \h 4 School-Based or Campus-Based Vaccination Promotion PAGEREF _Toc136863795 \h 4 Online-Based Campaigns PAGEREF _Toc136863796 \h 5 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc136863797 \h 6 Summary and Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc136863798 \h 7 References PAGEREF _Toc136863799 \h 9 Appendices PAGEREF _Toc136863800 \h 11 Introduction Influenza is one of the most widely spreading respiratory infections in the United States and worldwide, with a significant clinical and socioeconomic burden on the people. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2022), about 8% of the United States population gets infected by influence (flu) every season, with the epidemiology averaging between 3% and 11%. Despite the considerable burden caused by the seasonal incidence of flu across the United States, nearly half of the population in the country is hesitant and not planning to receive the influenza vaccine (Volpe, 2022). Anyone can get the flu (Appendix 1). However, individuals with underlying comorbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease are generally more susceptible to influenza infections. Most people older than 65 years and younger than 5 years have the highest risk of flu infections in the general population (Appendix 1). Considering these established levels of risk, most youths and young adults have demonstrated vaccine hesitancy across the United States. However, scholars have identified a complex array of behavioral intentions associated with the reluctance of youths to take the flu vaccine, which extends beyond the supposed set of risks related to infection. Promoting influenza vaccination among youths and young adults will protect the community surrounding this supposed low-risk group and underpin community health configurations. Vaccine Hesitancy Problem The reasons behind vaccine hesitancy among youths and the general population are broad and multifaceted. Understanding the varied dimensions of vaccines can help break the barriers to vaccination and promote community health. According to Welch et al. (2023), the flu vaccine first has socioeconomic barriers that affect almost every population worldwide. Generally, people from low-income backgrounds and neighborhoods have the lowest flu vaccine uptake across the United States. Next is the perceived lack of knowledge of the influenza vaccine. Despite being in existence for decades, the flu vaccine is poorly understood. Some communities even believe that the flu vaccine was created as part of a large syndicate of big pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop a market for their drugs. Kumar, Shah, and Garfield (2022) studied the causes of vaccine hesitancy among adults and found that concerns over safety, a lack of need for vaccination, a lack of trust, and cultural reasons have huge implications on vaccine uptake across all communities and age groups. Kumar, Shah, and Garfield (2022) particularly noted that the knowledge of vaccines and the side of clinical trials was lacking, and most people were not willing to trust pharmaceutical companies to provide information about their products. Therefore, the scholars suggested creating targeted approaches from trusted sources to address the safety concerns and reduce vaccine hesitancy among the general population. The World Health Organization (WHO) listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to world health in 2019 and the antipathy towards flu vaccine. The WHO observed the need for healthcare and social development stakeholders to come together and address the issue. Notably, a complex behavioral configuration is associated with a negative attitude to flu vaccine uptake. Li, Wood, and Kostkova (2022) observed that vaccine hesitancy, as a dynamic and challenging period of indecision around accepting a vaccine, is a complex and context-specific problem that must be addressed with a robust strategy. A spectrum of beliefs and concerns have contributed to the population, especially the youths and young adults, refusing the flu vaccine, and identifying strategic options for addressing this problem remains a key priority (Kumar, Shah, & Garfield, 2022). The proliferation of antivaccination misinformation, especially after the emergence of COVID-19, has added to a complex problem that must not be actively countered to foster community health and protect vulnerable populations from influenza infections in the future. Strategic Options to Improve Influenza Vaccination Owing to the complex orientation of the barriers to flu vaccine uptake among younger people, the strategic options suggested to address this problem must be anchored on evidence-based practices and informed by contemporary society’s realities. First, it is crucial to identify the overarching community health and behavior change theory and model that will anchor the strategic options proposed to address the hesitancy to flu vaccination. A combination of three theories with a common nexus of influencing changes in behaviors and attitudes is suggested: the health belief model (HBM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the social cognitive theory (SCT). According to Li, Wood, and Kostkova (2022), the HBM presents four critical drivers of health behaviors: people’s knowledge and perception of disease’s impact, perceptions of existing barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action. The HBM is consistently used as a guiding model and theory for health intervention development because it integrates practical dimensions of changing people’s beliefs about specific actions through dialogue-based interventions. Alongside the HBM, the TPB focuses on directly and intentionally influencing the intentions of an individual through behavioral control. Planned behaviors are connected to individuals’ attitudes toward the benefits and risks of vaccination within society (Li, Wood, & Kostkova, 2022). Lastly, the social cognitive theory identifies six elements of defining behavioral change among people. These six components include behavior capability, reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, reinforcements, vicarious learning, and reinforcements (Li, Wood, & Kostkova, 2022). The SCT will focus on social motivation to achieve behavior changes among the target population, which is a great incentive to address the problem of vaccine hesitancy. Lee, Rundle-Thiele, Wut, and Li (2022) observed that health behavior is complex, and a clear application of theory is expected to foster intervention effectiveness. The design of vaccination programs must consider the contextual and dynamic variables of behavior, attitudes, and beliefs which impact the willingness of youths to get vaccinations. Vaccination Promotion Campaigns Based on Primary Care The first evidence-based intervention for overcoming the barriers to influenza vaccination is to increase education efforts to minimize widely held misconceptions about the vaccine, its risks, and its effects. The education program can be anchored on the domain of primary care physicians who will promote vaccine uptake by speaking to young people visiting healthcare facilities about the need to be vaccinated to get holistic protection from the influenza virus. The public health department must integrate information-sharing strategies and vaccination campaigns into the healthcare system. When people are more informed about the vaccine, they will be able to make decisions in favor of taking up the vaccine. Information will moderate the beliefs and cultural aspects which have affected the willingness of people to take up the vaccination. Welch et al. (2023) observed that healthcare trust is the greatest promoter of vaccination. Improving such trust by providing more information will provide crucial incentives to change the situation. Young people must be informed that influenza is a respiratory infection, and the perceived low risk of illness among middle-aged people must not justify the hesitancy to take the vaccine. Borrowing from the Game Theory, Chapman et al. (2012) underscore...