Interactive COVID-19 Vaccine Conversations Module for Healthcare Professionals

Post Views: 234

Healthcare professionals are patients’ and parents’ most-trusted source of information on vaccines¹.

Motivational interviewing allows us to serve as an objective partner when it comes to decision making. Why does it work for vaccine hesitancy? Those that are in the ‘waiting and learning’ phase are in a spot of ambivalence. Pressure, mandates and unsolicited advice is not always effective and can actually create resistance. Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based and empathy-driven approach that can be employed when helping patients move toward a healthy behavior change that aligns with their values and needs. For example, a conversation that employs motivational interviewing is sensitive to how a patient’s family dynamics, culture and circumstances may impact their perspective on the COVID-19 vaccine. Motivational interviewing also prioritizes asking for permission to discuss certain information which allows the patient to maintain a level of control and comfort in the the conversation.

To provide a training ground for healthcare professionals to learn more about this approach and see it used in real COVID-19 vaccine conversation scenarios, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed the Interactive COVID-19 Vaccine Conversations Module for Healthcare Professionals. This free, new and interactive tool includes:

Tips for Having Effective Vaccine Conversations with Patients
Vaccine Conversations in Practice: Case Scenarios

This tool features five case scenarios. Within each of the scenarios, a healthcare professional is shown having a conversation with a patient concerning their hesitations about COVID-19 vaccines. These conversations consider the patient’s health history, life stage, occupation and personal concerns about the vaccines. During the conversations, participants can choose the patient’s reaction to the healthcare professional’s recommendations—whether negative or positive. This helps showcase the different ways that motivational interviewing can be applied when patients give very different answers.

While motivational interviewing is not a perfect formula for every patient, this tool enables healthcare professionals to learn what it can look like to put these techniques into practice.

Source: Unpublished research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Additional Resources