Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science Into Action.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Vaccination is a major public health achievement, yet challenges persist in achieving adequate and timely vaccine uptake.
• Psychological factors, including beliefs, emotions, and social influences, play a role in vaccination decisions.
• Existing research highlights limitations in interventions aimed at changing individual thoughts and feelings about vaccines.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore psychological propositions for understanding and improving vaccination uptake.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting cognitive, social, and behavioral aspects of vaccination.
• To identify psychological principles that can inform practical strategies for increasing vaccine coverage.

Main Methods:

• Review of hundreds of studies on risk beliefs, regret, confidence, and safety concerns related to vaccination.
• Analysis of research on social norms, altruism, and free-riding in vaccination contexts.
• Examination of randomized trials testing interventions that facilitate action (reminders, logistical support, incentives) versus those attempting to change thoughts and feelings.

Main Results:

• Interventions targeting thoughts and feelings about vaccines have shown minimal effectiveness in increasing uptake.
• Social processes like norms influence vaccination, but interventions to change them are less studied and effective.
• Interventions that directly facilitate action by reducing barriers and leveraging existing intentions are the most plentiful and effective.

Conclusions:

• Psychological principles can inform the design of systems and policies to directly facilitate vaccination action.
• While understanding cognitive and emotional drivers of vaccination is ongoing, practical interventions focusing on action facilitation are currently most successful.
• Future strategies should prioritize leveraging existing positive intentions and removing practical barriers to improve vaccine uptake.