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Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios

Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios
Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios
Background: during the 2009-2010 A(H1N1) pandemic, many people did not seek care quickly enough, failed to take a full course of antivirals despite being authorised to receive them, and were not vaccinated. Understanding facilitators and barriers to the uptake of vaccination and antiviral medicines will help inform campaigns in future pandemic influenza outbreaks. Increasing uptake of vaccines and antiviral medicines may need to address a range of drivers of behaviour. The aim was to identify facilitators of and barriers to being vaccinated and taking antiviral medicines in uncertain and severe pandemic influenza scenarios using a theoretical model of behaviour change, COM-B.

Methods: focus groups and interviews with 71 members of the public in England who varied in their at-risk status. Participants responded to uncertain and severe scenarios, and to messages giving advice on vaccination and antiviral medicines. Data were thematically analysed using the theoretical framework provided by the COM-B model.

Results: influences on uptake of vaccines and antiviral medicines - capabilities, motivations and opportunities - are part of an inter-related behavioural system and different components influenced each other. An identity of being healthy and immune from infection was invoked to explain feelings of invulnerability and hence a reduced need to be vaccinated, especially during an uncertain scenario. The identity of being a ‘healthy person’ also included beliefs about avoiding medicine and allowing the body to fight disease ‘naturally’. This was given as a reason for using alternative precautionary behaviours to vaccination. This identity could be held by those not at-risk and by those who were clinically at-risk.

Conclusions: promoters and barriers to being vaccinated and taking antiviral medicines are multi-dimensional and communications to promote uptake are likely to be most effective if they address several components of behaviour. The benefit of using the COM-B model is that it is at the core of an approach that can identify effective strategies for behaviour change and communications for the future. Identity beliefs were salient for decisions about vaccination. Communications should confront identity beliefs about being a ‘healthy person’ who is immune from infection by addressing how vaccination can boost wellbeing and immunity

pandemic influenza, vaccination, antiviral medicines, behaviour
1471-2458
1-13
Rubinstein, Helena
3003a23e-7d85-446d-9021-238636d10299
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Michie, Susan
47e0a907-79cb-47d5-b5a9-82d2afe1747a
Rubinstein, Helena
3003a23e-7d85-446d-9021-238636d10299
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Michie, Susan
47e0a907-79cb-47d5-b5a9-82d2afe1747a

Rubinstein, Helena, Marcu, Afrodita, Yardley, Lucy and Michie, Susan (2015) Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios. BMC Public Health, 15 (190), 1-13. (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1541-8).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: during the 2009-2010 A(H1N1) pandemic, many people did not seek care quickly enough, failed to take a full course of antivirals despite being authorised to receive them, and were not vaccinated. Understanding facilitators and barriers to the uptake of vaccination and antiviral medicines will help inform campaigns in future pandemic influenza outbreaks. Increasing uptake of vaccines and antiviral medicines may need to address a range of drivers of behaviour. The aim was to identify facilitators of and barriers to being vaccinated and taking antiviral medicines in uncertain and severe pandemic influenza scenarios using a theoretical model of behaviour change, COM-B.

Methods: focus groups and interviews with 71 members of the public in England who varied in their at-risk status. Participants responded to uncertain and severe scenarios, and to messages giving advice on vaccination and antiviral medicines. Data were thematically analysed using the theoretical framework provided by the COM-B model.

Results: influences on uptake of vaccines and antiviral medicines - capabilities, motivations and opportunities - are part of an inter-related behavioural system and different components influenced each other. An identity of being healthy and immune from infection was invoked to explain feelings of invulnerability and hence a reduced need to be vaccinated, especially during an uncertain scenario. The identity of being a ‘healthy person’ also included beliefs about avoiding medicine and allowing the body to fight disease ‘naturally’. This was given as a reason for using alternative precautionary behaviours to vaccination. This identity could be held by those not at-risk and by those who were clinically at-risk.

Conclusions: promoters and barriers to being vaccinated and taking antiviral medicines are multi-dimensional and communications to promote uptake are likely to be most effective if they address several components of behaviour. The benefit of using the COM-B model is that it is at the core of an approach that can identify effective strategies for behaviour change and communications for the future. Identity beliefs were salient for decisions about vaccination. Communications should confront identity beliefs about being a ‘healthy person’ who is immune from infection by addressing how vaccination can boost wellbeing and immunity

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Rubinstein et al 2015_Public preferences for pandemic flu vaccination_BMC Public Health.pdf - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 16 February 2015
Published date: 27 February 2015
Keywords: pandemic influenza, vaccination, antiviral medicines, behaviour
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 376068
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/376068
ISSN: 1471-2458
PURE UUID: 09eb641c-18a5-4cde-aa41-5bd51644a601
ORCID for Lucy Yardley: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3853-883X

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Date deposited: 23 Apr 2015 10:25
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:00

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Contributors

Author: Helena Rubinstein
Author: Afrodita Marcu
Author: Lucy Yardley ORCID iD
Author: Susan Michie

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