Increasing Awareness and Uptake of Influenza Immunization presentation

Increasing Awareness and Uptake of Influenza Immunization.pdf by Glen Nowak, Ph. .! Acting irector of "edia #elations, $ $ %$enters for isease $ontrol& Associate irector for $ommunications, NIP %National Immunization Program& '$ ata taken( !) *eb +,!-

Warning
Good %i.e., effecti.e& communication is a necessary but usually only partially sufficient condition for achie.ing desired beha.iors. *acts, figures, and statistics, in and of themsel.es, don/t e0uate to good communication %nor does more information e0ual good communication&.

Question
1It strikes + million Americans each year. And complications from this kill up to +,,,,,, people a year 22 more people than breast cancer, car crashes, and AI 3 combined. 4he good news is, in most cases, this can be pre.ented.5 6hat is it that causes this harm7 %And does ha.ing this information change your beha.ior7&

Glen Nowak is $hief of "edia #elations at the $enters for isease $ontrol and Pre.ention and acting irector of the i.ision of News and 8lectronic "edia. As director of the i.ision of News and 8lectronic "edia, he has responsibility for $ $/s news media, Internet and social media acti.ities. As $hief of "edia #elations, he ser.es as the senior media ad.isory to the $ $ director and senior agency managers, and is responsible for the agency/s interactions with the news media %which includes media outreach, responding to news media in0uiries, ensuring the $ $/s media relations website meets the needs of the agency and 9ournalists, and ser.ing as a $ $ spokesperson&. Prior to becoming $hief of "edia #elations in :une, +,,;, r. Nowak was the director for communications for $ $/s National Immunization Program. As NIP/s director of communication, r. Nowak was responsible for all aspects of the communication program, from ser.ing as senior communication ad.isor to NIP/s director to managing the .arious component functions. Prior to 9oining $ $ in :anuary !<<<, r. Nowak was an associate professor of ad.ertising and communication at the Uni.ersity of Georgia. =e taught undergraduate and graduate courses in ad.ertising, communication and ad.ertising research, communication and ad.ertising management, social marketing, and health communications. In the past +, years, he has authored or co2authored a number of peer2re.iewed 9ournal articles on communications practices, social marketing, and health communications, and conducted numerous workshops and trainings on health communication, social marketing, risk communication and media relations. r. Nowak recei.ed his Ph . in !<<, %mass communications& and ".A. degree in !<>) %9ournalism& from the Uni.ersity of 6isconsin. =e earned his ?achelor of 3cience degree in !<>+ from U62"ilwaukee %economics and mass communications&. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Division of News and Electronic edia !"## Clifton $d Atlanta% &A U'A (((( Email) g9n,@cdc.go.

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Recipe for Fostering Public Interest and High Vaccine Demand

!. Influenza/s arri.al coincides with immunization 1season5 %i.e., when people can take action& +. ominant strain and'or initial cases of disease are( Associated with se.ere illness and'or outcomes Cccur among people for whom influenza is not generally percei.ed to cause serious complications %e.g., children, healthy adults, healthy seniors& In cities and communities with significant media outlets %e.g., daily newspapers, ma9or 4D stations& -. "edical eEperts and public health authorities publicly %e.g., .ia media& state concern and alarm %and predict dire outcomes& F and urge influenza .accination. ;. 4he combination of G+/ and G-/ result in( 3ignificant media interest and attention *raming of the flu season in terms that moti.ate beha.ior %e.g., as 1.ery se.ere,5 1more se.ere than last or past years,5 1deadly5& H. $ontinued reports %e.g., from health officials and media& that influenza is causing se.ere illness and'or affecting lots of people F helping foster the perception that many people are susceptible to a bad case of influenza. I. Disible'tangible eEamples of the seriousness of the illness %e.g., pictures of children, families of those affected coming forward& and people getting .accinated %the first to moti.ate, the latter to reinforce& ). #eferences to, and discussions, of pandemic influenza F along with continued reference to the importance of .accination.

Implications of the Recipe

A large component of consumer demand for flu .accination is contingent upon things we can/t control %e.g., timing, se.erity, eEtent, duration of the disease and resulting illness&. *ostering demand, particularly among people who don/t routinely recei.e an annual influenza .accination, re0uires creating concern, anEiety, and worry. *or eEample( A perception or sense that many people are falling illJ A perception or sense that many people are eEperiencing bad illnessJ A perception or sense of .ulnerability to contracting and eEperiencing bad illness.

Additional Pandemic! Influen"a #ommunication #hallenges

#ecommendations and perceptions regarding influenza .accination are not 1uni.ersal5 %and achie.ing consensus by 1fiat5 is difficult& 1"ass media5 doesn/t effecti.ely reach 1the mass5 "iEed messages and ad.ice are hard to a.oid

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Influen"a Immuni"ation Recommendations and Perceptions

Until recently, influenza .accination recommended primarily for IH and older and people with certain chronic medical conditions F fostering perception that .accination was for 1elderly5 and 1frail5 Now recommended for H,2I; year olds and I2+- month olds F to many, implying a& its helpful primarily for older people and b& we ha.e data that supports such precision 8Eperts 1nuance5 recommendations, but the public %as well as many healthcare pro.iders& don/t similarly nuance their perceptions %e.g., 1recommend5 .s. 1encourage,5 I2+- month olds .s. + year olds&

$hree %i&el' Population (egments

People who routinely recei.e an annual influenza .accination, including those we recommend do so Primarily IH years old and older Primarily get .accinated in 3ept2No.ember People who sometimes recei.e an annual influenza .accination, including those we recommend do so Interest is often contingent on perceptions of se.erity of the strain, likelihood they or someone they know will contract it, their belief they will eEperience or transmit a se.ere case Appear to get .accinated later %No.ember, early ecember& People who choose not to get an influenza .accination, including those we recommend do so( In.ersely related to age %e.g., most likely !>2;<& Among older people, often based on a firmly held belief'con.iction

)ass )edia %ess Helpful

"ost people ha.e !, or so options when it comes to tele.ision .iewing F many ha.e H,2!,, or more =undreds of websites offer medical and health information aily newspaper readership has been declining, particularly among !>2;< year olds $ultural and ethnic di.ersity is greater than e.er =ealth literacy is a growing problem ?elief that today you need to eEpose people to your message !,2!+ times to achie.e attention

$he #hallenge of A*oiding )i+ed )essages and Ad*ice

Cften arise when eEpert actions and beha.iors don/t seem to match or be consistent with policies and recommendations %e.g., healthcare pro.iders not getting annual influenza .accinations& 3A*8# A =8AB=I8# A P8CPB84"

 Cften fostered by a desire to impro.e our ability to pro.ide ser.ices should large numbers of people act upon our ad.ice Cften recognized primarily in hindsight F and in conteEts outside our own area of eEpertise

#omic recommendation template

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#omic recommendation modified

(ome Recommendations
Adopt more sophisticated approach to influenza2related communication( Greater in.estment in communication research Greater appreciation of need for a& less nuanced messages'ad.ice and b& de.elopment'use of a portfolio of messages and materials Plans that eEtend beyond news media reliance #ecognition that the kind of communication acti.ities en.isioned %e.g., broad scope, high .isibility, message fre0uency& re0uire significant in.estment Greater understanding and use of risk communication principles %e.g., dilemma sharing, acknowledging uncertainty, pro.iding coping strategies and ad.ice&

*+ank ,ou
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