Increasing Healthcare Worker's Flu Vaccination Rates: New Insights on How We Can Do It

Why Should You Be Interested in the Flu Vaccine?

We all love vaccines since they help PREVENT the disease.  Plus, most of the time, they're free or super cheap.  Who doesn't love free or cheap things that can make us healthier?  

Or, if you don't think they make us healthier, they at least save us a few days from being in the hospital or extra cash being spent on medicines or remedies.  No one likes buying tissues or cough drops.  And those are the cheap things! No one likes paying for a hospital bill or any big time items.  Plus, actually getting sick is not fun.  For anyone!

Plus, did you know that the flu vaccine is now available in a non-needle form?  Yep!  It comes as a nasal spray.  How neat is that?  

Vaccines are seriously the coolest thing since sliced bread.  

Why Do Public Health Workers Love the Flu Vaccine?

Public health people love vaccines.  They PREVENT the disease which kind of solves the problem!  Since our goal is to help make the world a healthier place, by eliminating one problem, like a disease, we can focus on other issues-like food inequities or rising healthcare costs.

As for my fellow public health workers, we all know what it is like to fight with the flu every year and how important it is for healthcare workers (HCWs) to get the flu vaccine especially!  I am sure each and every one of you has seen the campaigns: some flyers, some announcements, and that's about it.  Some places have began to make it mandatory but that is another issue for another day.  

Brief Summary of the Article

Well, as most of these campaigns seemed dismal at best, there is now hope!  One study that just came out last month in the American Journal of Infection Control that made me super excited.  I hope it does for you too! 
(Predicting influenza vaccination uptake among health care workers: What are the key motivators?)

In summary, the article identified the underlying factors as to why HCWs get vaccinated against the flu.  

As Public Health Workers, Why is This Article Useful?

While these reasons may seem obvious to some, they were not obvious to all, especially those designing the flu vaccine campaigns.  By identification of these factors, we can now begin to tailor campaigns towards HCWs and hopefully boost the vaccination rate!  

Together, as a team, we can do this.  We eradicated smallpox and are on our way with polio-could the flu be next?  One step at a time and this is a step in the right direction!!!

WE ARE PUBLIC HEALTH

What are your thoughts?