Promoting Confidence
Vaccine hesitancy is an ongoing challenge that has evolved rapidly in the pandemic era. There are mounting concerns that hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccines is bleeding over to other immunizations, accelerating already worrying trends. With these immunity gaps, endemic pathogens threaten to re-emerge with waves of higher incidence. Our projects focus on understanding sources of vaccine hesitancy and developing interventions to promote vaccine confidence.
Keywords:
Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine equity, vaccine promotion, vaccine confidence, vaccine uptake
Core faculty:
Robert Bednarczyk, Allison Chamberlain, Jodie Guest
SAMPLE PROJECTS
To explore ways to effectively utilize obstetric care practice websites for patient education, especially on topics like maternal vaccination and emerging infectious diseases.
Funder:
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Affiliated Faculty:
Allison Chamberlain, PhD
Collaborators:
Emory Public Health Preparedness Translation and Dissemination Initiative
Selected Publications:
- Ellingson MK, Bonk CM, Chamberlain AT. A survey-based study of Zika virus communication preferences among pregnant women in Georgia, United States. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2017;17(1):325. Published 2017 Sep 26.
- Ellingson M, Chamberlain AT. Beyond the verbal: Pregnant women’s preferences for receiving influenza and Tdap vaccine information from their obstetric care providers. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2018 Mar 4;14(3):767-771.
ReadyVax Mobile App contains information regarding vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases, and vaccine safety for healthcare providers and patients. The goal is to create a user-friendly mobile app to readily provide evidence-based answers to vaccine-related questions.
Funder:
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Affiliated Faculty:
Robert Bednarczyk, PhD
Collaborators:
Emory Public Health Preparedness Translation and Dissemination Initiative
Selected Publications:
- Bednarczyk RA, Frew PM, Salmon DA, Whitney E, Omer SB. ReadyVax: A new mobile vaccine information app. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2017;13(5):1149-1154.
An evaluation of the epidemiology of adolescent vaccine uptake (HPV, Tdap, MCV4) in the state of Georgia, as part of an administrative supplement to the Winship Cancer Center. Projects include an assessment of the state HPV Prevention Working Group; focus group discussions with diverse stakeholders to understand adolescent vaccine uptake; a knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey of 700 parents of adolescents (in progress); and analysis of over 2 million GRITS records to understand sub-state level patterns in adolescent vaccine uptake (in progress).
Funder:
National Cancer Institute
Affiliated Faculty:
Robert Bednarczyk, PhD
Collaborators:
Winship Cancer Institute Cancer Prevention and Control Program
Selected Publications:
- Dennison C, King AR, Rutledge H, Bednarczyk RA. HPV vaccine-related research, promotion and coordination in the state of Georgia: A systematic review. J Comm Health 2019;44(2):313-21.
- King AR, Moon T, Agnew G, Bednarczyk RA. Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Georgia: Evaluating the Georgia HPV Work Group. J Comm Health 2019;44(3):428-35.
- Lahijani A, King AR, Gullatte MM, Hennink M, Bednarczyk RA. HPV vaccine promotion: The church as an agent of change. Soc Sci Med 2020;268:113375. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113375.
- Bairu W, King AR, Bednarczyk RA. Caregivers of adolescents’ motivators and barriers to vaccinating children against human papillomavirus. J Prev 2022; accepted, in press.