By Todd Phillips
“Young people…are now among the highest-priority populations because this H1N1 is different from other flu strains.”
—Elyse Levine‚ senior research and communication officer‚ AED Center for Health Communications
Preventing widespread illness and loss of life from seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus this winter will require effective communication‚ coordination‚ and delivery of flu vaccines for higher-risk populations and sustained care for the sick. To reach people at risk in the United States‚ AED is conducting research to inform the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in their strategic communications.
For example‚ the AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change conducted 40 focus groups with veterans and staff at VA medical centers across the country to assess their understanding of seasonal flu‚ vaccines‚ and infection control.
“Veterans told us what makes messages about the flu and infection control more or less credible and actionable‚” said Joy Pritchett‚ a senior program officer in the AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change. “Many said that the easier the VA made it to get the flu shot‚ the more likely the staff and veterans are to get vaccinated.
Now the VA is lowering barriers to access by bringing the shot into staff work areas and patients’ waiting rooms. Nurses travel the corridors of VA medical facilities with the vaccine‚ encouraging both staff and patients to be vaccinated. The VA even sponsors drive-through vaccination fairs‚ where both staff and patients can get the shot without having to get out of their cars.
The research also informs the VA’s H1N1 communications planning‚ which focuses on promoting vaccinations and good hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus.
H1N1 Poses New Risks
The AED Center for Health Communication is helping the CDC plan and implement the
national communications effort to encourage priority populations to be immunized for both
the seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 virus. AED’s formative research is addressing
the challenge of reaching “high priority” populations that are susceptible to H1N1‚ but
that usually do not get yearly flu vaccines. This group of 159 million people in the United
States includes those who:
- live with or care for children younger than six months of age;
- are health care and emergency medical services personnel;
- are between the ages of six months and 24 years of age; and
- are between 25 and 64 years old and have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
“Young people—such as college students—who may not think they need a vaccination are now among the highest-priority populations because this H1N1 is different from other flu strains‚” said Elyse Levine‚ a senior research and communication officer in the AED Center for Health Communication. “AED is using online surveys and focus groups to conduct intensive reviews of the CDC’s messages‚ and drafting advertisements to reach these populations with messages that will resonate and encourage them to be vaccinated.”
State and Local Coordination Essential
Clear communication and coordination at the state and local levels is also needed to
respond effectively to the H1N1 virus. During last spring’s H1N1 outbreak‚ AED worked
intensively with the CDC to understand how state and local health departments create and
disseminate messages and materials to meet the needs of their key partners‚ communities‚
and the general population.
Researchers examined how previously developed plans for emergency communications about pandemic influenza were used; the perceived role of CDC and other federal agencies in the communications activities during the spring H1N1 outbreak; the creation‚ modification‚ and flow of H1N1 virus messages and materials; how it all worked; who wasn’t reached; and what more is needed this fall.
“States and local communities that used emergency response plans—even if they were developed for a different scenario—reported smoother communications and less confusion when they had to act quickly last spring‚” said Rebecca Ledsky‚ a research director in the AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change. “As a result‚ they need strategies in those plans to engage the media to communicate simple prevention and vaccination messages.”
For more information visit http://csmbc.aed.org or http://chc.aed.org.
Todd Phillips is a senior marketing/communications manager in the AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change.
