Journey to vaccination: a protocol for a multinational qualitative study.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Psychology
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Childhood vaccination has improved significantly, saving millions of lives annually.
• Adult vaccination coverage remains suboptimal and inconsistently documented.
• Social and psychological factors, alongside structural barriers, impact adult vaccine uptake.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the social and psychological factors influencing adult vaccination decisions.
• To understand the context and experiences shaping vaccination decision-making over time.
• To investigate adult vaccination decisions in the USA, UK, France, India, China, and Brazil.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviewing techniques.
• Development of the 'journey to vaccination' approach, integrating heuristics, biases, and customer journey mapping.
• Purposive sampling and thematic analysis to identify key factors and typical vaccination journeys.

Main Results:

• Identification of under-reported social and psychological factors influencing vaccination.
• Deeper understanding of barriers and drivers affecting adult vaccine uptake.
• Proposal of typical vaccination journeys based on participant experiences.

Conclusions:

• Social and psychological factors play a critical role in adult vaccination decisions.
• The 'journey to vaccination' approach offers novel insights into vaccine decision-making.
• Findings will inform strategies to improve adult vaccination coverage globally.