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. 2024 May;52(3):379-390.
doi: 10.1177/14034948231223791. Epub 2024 Feb 12.

Trust matters: The Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Europe Study

Pia Vuolanto  1 , Ana Nunes Almeida  2 , Alistair Anderson  3 , Petra Auvinen  1 , André Beja  4 , Piet Bracke  5 , Mario Cardano  6 , Melissa Ceuterick  5 , Tiago Correia  4 , Elisabetta De Vito  7 , Katrijn Delaruelle  5 , Ana Delicado  2 , Maurizio Esposito  7 , Maria Ferrara  7 , Luigi Gariglio  6 , Cátia Guerreiro  4 , Jaroslava Hasmanová Marhánková  8 , Ana Patrícia Hilário  2 , Pru Hobson-West  3 , Juliana Iorio  2 , Katri-Maria Järvinen  1 , Annariina Koivu  1 , Zuzana Kotherová  8 , Aapo Kuusipalo  1 , Esther Lermytte  5 , Joana Mendonça  2 , Rita Morais  2 , Dino Numerato  8 , Paulina Polak  9 , Tadeusz Rudek  9 , Sara Sbaragli  7 , Alice Scavarda  6 , Katielle Silva  2 , Pedro Alcantâra da Silva  2 , Jonas Sivelä  10 , Eva Soares Moura  8 , Maria Świątkiewicz-Mośny  9 , Giuseppe Tipaldo  6 , Aleksandra Wagner  9
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Trust matters: The Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Europe Study

Pia Vuolanto et al. Scand J Public Health. 2024 May.

Abstract

This article presents the design of a seven-country study focusing on childhood vaccines, Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Europe (VAX-TRUST), developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study consists of (a) situation analysis of vaccine hesitancy (examination of individual, socio-demographic and macro-level factors of vaccine hesitancy and analysis of media coverage on vaccines and vaccination and (b) participant observation and in-depth interviews of healthcare professionals and vaccine-hesitant parents. These analyses were used to design interventions aimed at increasing awareness on the complexity of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare professionals involved in discussing childhood vaccines with parents. We present the selection of countries and regions, the conceptual basis of the study, details of the data collection and the process of designing and evaluating the interventions, as well as the potential impact of the study. Laying out our research design serves as an example of how to translate complex public health issues into social scientific study and methods.

Keywords: Vaccine hesitancy; cross-country study; health sociology; public health; study design.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
VAX-TRUST countries and target regions.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The stages of VAX-TRUST.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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