The simple text message seems to work best in encourging people to get vaccinated--new study

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Wed, 2021-06-30 00:05 — mike kraft

This simple text message can encourage people to get vaccinated, researchers say Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania found that people who received text messages about the annual flu vaccine were more likely to get the shot. Now, some states and jurisdictions are using the same strategy to help boost Covid-19 vaccine coverage. Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN CNN

(CNN) A simple text message may be able to provide the nudge some people need to get vaccinated, researchers say.

Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania found that people who received text messages about the annual flu vaccine were more likely to get the shot. Now, some states and jurisdictions are using the same strategy to help boost Covid-19 vaccine coverage.

The research team crowdsourced ideas from experts around the world and decided on 19 different text message "nudges" about getting the flu vaccine. They sent these texts to 47,306 people before primary care visits at two large health systems.

Their findings, published in May in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed the texts boosted flu vaccination rates by an average of about 5%.

It wasn't just the reminder that did the trick. The messages that performed best were those telling the patient that a vaccine was "reserved" or "waiting" for them.

"It made people feel like it was theirs -- that it was their shot and that they shouldn't miss out on it," said one of the researchers, Dr. Mitesh Patel, national lead for behavioral insights at Ascension Health. ...

It turns out flashy or funny did not work as well. People seemed to respond best to messages consistent with the professional and direct language typically expected from a health care provider.

The researchers confirmed their findings in a similar study of Walmart pharmacy customers. That study also showed that it was helpful for people to receive repeated reminders.

"The same set of messages worked at Walmart and the two health systems -- two entirely different populations," Patel said. "In the health systems, patients were about to see their doctor in the next three days, whereas at Walmart, we just texted patients in the community -- they weren't planning to come into their pharmacy -- and still the same message worked just as well."

Texts don't necessarily provide the best forum for conversation, and Patel noted that these messages are unlikely to convince someone who is hesitant to get vaccinated for political or other reasons.

However, they may work well for groups marked by what he describes as "vaccine apathy." ...

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