A COVID-19 decision aid to support adult and child vaccine uptake in multicultural communities

Lead investigator

Dr Jane Frawley.  – UTS

Collaborators

Professor Kristine Macartney – member APPRISE; NCIRS, USYD

Professor Julie Leask – USYD

Dipti Zachariah – Western Sydney Local Health District

Associate Professor Holly Seale – UNSW

Dr Abela Mahimbo – UTS

Dr Ikram Abdi – NCIRS

Outcomes for Australia

The project will enable co-designed COVID-19 vaccination resources in language.

The current COVID-19 vaccine decision aid has been well received, and a multicultural expansion is vital to increase access to all Australians.

Co-designed vaccination messages in language and embedded into cultural understanding and immunisation practices will support the uptake of adult and child vaccines in multicultural communities.

Background

Recent research has highlighted the inadequacies of Australian immunisation information to promote uptake to culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

English-language COVID-19 vaccine decision aids have been developed, and the adult version is in circulation (https://www.ncirs.org.au/covid-19-decision-aid), with the child version is in the final stages of refinement.

The English-language decision aids decrease access for many members of multicultural communities. Almost one-third of the Australian population were born overseas and English proficiency increases health disparities for multicultural communities.

Decision aids can play a critical role by providing invaluable assistance for complex health decisions such as immunisation. Research shows decision aids decrease decision-making conflict related to immunisation.

Decision aids help participants understand the probable outcomes of their decision leading to improvements in vaccine uptake, decreased disease burden, and a logical pathway to healthcare savings.

Objectives

Th project will translate the following two COVID-19 vaccine decision aids into four languages:

  1. a decision aid for those aged 16 years and over
  2. a decision aid for parents of children aged 5 to 15 years, with possible expansion for parents of children 6 months to 4 years if approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The project has restricted the translation to four languages to ensure feasibility, but others can be added at any time.

Related Research Areas

  • Public health research