Improving vaccine communication

Vaccines are one of the greatest success stories in public health and remain our most effective tool for preventing infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted not only the importance of vaccines in preventing and reducing disease severity but also the growing divide in attitudes towards them. Evidence-based health communication strategies are essential to combat vaccine misinformation and help Australians make informed vaccine-related decisions. With more people turning to the internet for health-related information, digital tools like decision aids could be particularly effective. Vaccine decision aids provide evidence-based information about the options available and help people to understand these options as well as the possible benefits and harms. They also help patients clarify and communication personal values and guide them through the decision-making process. Depending on the student’s interests, this Honours project on vaccine communication could include activities such as: • Designing and conducting a pilot study of a decision aid for Japanese encephalitis vaccines • Conducting a comprehensive literature review on vaccine communication tools and their effectiveness • Analysing data from co-design workshops to inform the development of a decision aid for typhoid vaccines