Analysis: Here are 6 useful ways to motivate and enable people to get their vaccine boosters
Overall, Ireland's Covid-19 vaccination programme has been a success. However, recent evidence suggests some waning enthusiasm for booster vaccinations. As Covid vaccine certificates are no longer in operation for hospitality, we now need to return to other means of influence. Here are six key behavioural science based principles that could be useful in motivating and enabling people to get their boosters.
The common good
Commitment to the common good is often a universal motivator. This is particularly the case earlier in adulthood. The leadership of young people in socially progressive and social solidarity movements demonstrate this. We can see public health messaging embracing this concern for social justice when we see the emphasis on protecting others e.g #ForUsAll.
Our booster conversations and public health messaging can equally remind people why getting boosted will also benefit other people. This includes immediate family members, friends, frontline healthcare workers and services who are collectively the first responders if we become ill with Covid-19. Strong government commitment to global vaccine equity is also likely to motivate. A coherent and consistent global health vision that is genuinely about the welfare of everyone may get the ambivalent on-board.
Trusted public figures
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, Minister of State Ossian Smyth on the rollout of Covid booster certs for foreign travel
Some public and community figures have earned widespread trust because we have witnessed their undeniable service to the dispossessed. At a national level, Senator Lynn Ruane or Father Peter McVerry have demonstrated a relentless commitment to the forlorn and forgotten. Such people are seen as without a professional or political conflict of interest. When communicating about boosters we may want to remind people to seek out the guidance or to identify the norms of those that they trust. Identifying a pro-vaccination position of a specific trusted public figure is likely to be helpful.
Telling stories
Individual’s stories capture our attention with a force that is rarely achieved by the presentation of carefully collated scientific facts about health risk. The idea of 'names trumping numbers’ in effective communication was clearly seen in the positive impact that Laura Brennan had on promoting the uptake of the HPV vaccination in Ireland.
Equally, a relatable personal story of a positive experience of Covid-19 booster or a negative experience from contracting Covid, despite being double-vaccinated, may be more likely to persuade people of the necessity of a booster vaccination than any nameless NPHET or NIAC decree.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, adviser to the Israeli government on that county's latest booster campaign
Identity
The power of collective identity in influencing behaviour can be seen when people feel strongly compelled to follow norms that align with their group identity. Motivating people in this way is particularly potent when it provides a means of confirming group identity or values. Getting a booster needs to be seen as something that ‘we’ do because of who ‘we’ are. Most group identities, no matter how obscure or narrow, often share a core value of looking out for who they see as the powerless or the neglected in society. Reminding people that getting a booster may be a way of expressing both this value and their related group identity could be helpful.
Dignity
Everyone needs their dignity preserved in these discussions. Disrespecting or dismissing those who are booster hesitant will invariably guarantee failure in any efforts to get people to rethink. Disenfranchised social groups are more likely to be hesitant or sceptical. From a historical perspective younger people, particularly women, in Ireland may have good reason to doubt that the state or the medical profession always have their best interests at heart.
If people are ambivalent about boosters, then perhaps you can explore that with them, rather than castigate them about their uncertainty. Non-judgement is a critical starting point in motivational communication concerning health. You might persuade someone to get their booster by simply listening and providing them with the space and the dignity to talk it through.
All of us have a key role and a stake in maximising the extent to which people are enabled to get their booster
It's easy!
Even if motivation is not the main barrier and people trust their healthcare providers, there may still be a "last mile problem", if there is some complicated bureaucracy, cost or organisation involved that causes delay or encourages procrastination. We also know that strong motivation is not even necessary to change behaviour. Think of how easy and effortless a middle aisle purchase is in Aldi or Lidl. Who really wanted the tent, the chainsaw or the trumpet?
We might be able to provide the transport or, if we are an employer, give adequate time off work or provide whatever resources or flexibility is necessary to make it easier for people to get their booster. All of us, particularly the government, have a key role and a stake in maximising the extent to which people are enabled to get their booster.
The innovation and flexibility that the beleaguered hospitality industry have demonstrated through the pandemic may provide a template for success. The proliferation of mobile or pop-up hospitality where people have congregated outdoors throughout the pandemic point to a potentially fundamental ingredient. Ultimately, we may need to draw inspiration from this and meet people where they are to to get more onside with boosters.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
