Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 10;33(5):905-915.
doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad134.

Countering vaccine hesitancy: a systematic review of interventions to strengthen healthcare professionals' action

Giuseppina Lo Moro  1 , Maria Ferrara  2 , Elisa Langiano  2 , Davide Accortanzo  1 , Toni Cappelletti  1 , Aldo De Angelis  1 , Maurizio Esposito  2 , Alessandro Prinzivalli  1 , Alessandra Sannella  2 , Sara Sbaragli  2 , Pia Vuolanto  3 , Roberta Siliquini  1   4 , Elisabetta De Vito  2
Affiliations

Countering vaccine hesitancy: a systematic review of interventions to strengthen healthcare professionals' action

Giuseppina Lo Moro et al. Eur J Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Vaccine hesitancy is relevant for healthcare professionals (HCPs) who face challenges in building trusting relationships with patients. Accordingly, the VAX-TRUST project has been developed to improve experiences of HCPs and patients dealing with vaccinations. To support VAX-TRUST, this work aimed to identify latest interventions targeted at HCPs to address hesitancy and increase vaccine uptake.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA by searching PubMed, Scopus and Embase. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO. Articles were eligible if evaluated interventions directly targeted at HCPs/healthcare students. The search was run on 26 January 2022. Articles published in 2016 or after were included.

Results: A total of 17 492 records were identified; 139 articles were selected. Most articles were set in USA (n = 110). Over half had a pre-post design without a control group (n = 78). A total of 41 articles focused on single-component interventions, 60 on multi-component interventions involving only HCPs and/or students and 38 on multi-component interventions involving also other professionals. Main components were in-person education (n = 76), synchronous (n = 10) and asynchronous (n = 23) online learning, educational materials (n = 26), performance assessment and feedback (n = 33), electronic record changes (n = 30), role play/simulation (n = 21) and online games/apps (n = 5). Educational sessions were mainly about scientific update or communication. Outcomes of interventions were grouped in: vaccination rates (n = 69), knowledge (n = 32), attitudes (n = 26), confidence in counselling (n = 30) and acceptability (n = 16).

Conclusions: Apps, gaming, role play/simulations could represent innovative interventions. This review highlighted the need of delving into communication strategies and using more robust evaluations, longer follow-up and standardized measurements.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. SAGE Working Group. REPORT SAGE Working Group On Vaccine Hesitancy, 2014. Available at: https://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2014/october/1_Report_WOR... (10 August 2023, date last accessed).
    1. Dubé E, Laberge C, Guay M, et al.Vaccine hesitancy: an overview. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2013;9:1763–73. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO. Ten Threats to Global Health in 2019, 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-... (10 August 2023, date last accessed).
    1. Hadjipanayis A, van Esso D, Del Torso S, et al.Vaccine confidence among parents: large scale study in eighteen European countries. Vaccine 2020;38:1505–12. - PubMed
    1. Adhikari B, Yeong Cheah P, von Seidlein L.. Trust is the common denominator for COVID-19 vaccine acceptance: a literature review. Vaccine X 2022;12:100213. - PMC - PubMed