Barriers to effective communication on adult vaccination: results of in-depth interviews with the population and healthcare professionals of the Arkhangelsk Oblast

The effectiveness of communication with a doctor on vaccination often determines a patient's decision to vaccinate. However, the related difficulties and barriers remain insufficiently studied.

Aim. To study the factors influencing communication between doctors and adult patients on vaccination issues.

Material and methods. Based on the World Health Organization approach to adapting immunization programs, a qualitative study was conducted in May-June 2024 in the Arkhangelsk region, including 18 semi-structured personal in-depth interviews on adult vaccination with two following target groups: adult population (n=12) and health workers (n=6). The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by two independent experts using narrative content analysis.

Results. According to population representatives, there were following factors hindering communication and consent to vaccination: lack of information about vaccines and possible reactions; no discussion of vaccination with a healthcare professional or a formal approach to it. According to health workers, the barriers were prejudices and myths about vaccines among the population. Among the management problems, the population noted the lack of time for doctors to discuss vaccination at the appointment; healthcare workers noted the lack of a unified information on vaccination issues, lack of visual information for patients, and logistical problems (impaired continuity in transferring information on vaccination of the population between health institutions and healthcare workers).

Conclusion. The identified barriers to effective communication on vaccination can form the basis for developing measures to eliminate them and increase adult vaccination coverage. The developed and presented tool for conducting personal in-depth interviews can be used by researchers and specialists in the field of public health promotion to study the problems of communication on adult vaccination.

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