1. An Exploratory Study of an Online Vaccine Education Program in Middle-School Students to Promote Vaccine Acceptance.
- Author
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Lewin, Edward B., Bellanti, Dawn M., Boyd, Courtney C., Orenstein, Walter A., and Bellanti, Joseph A.
- Subjects
PREVENTION of communicable diseases ,PSYCHOLOGY of middle school students ,IMMUNIZATION ,SOCIAL media ,HEALTH attitudes ,DATA analysis ,DIFFUSION of innovations ,RESEARCH funding ,SATISFACTION ,PUBLIC sector ,EVALUATION of human services programs ,EDUCATIONAL outcomes ,STATISTICAL sampling ,PILOT projects ,FISHER exact test ,RANDOMIZED controlled trials ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ANALYSIS of covariance ,CHI-squared test ,PRE-tests & post-tests ,STUDENTS ,ONLINE education ,SCHOOL nursing ,VACCINE hesitancy ,RESEARCH ,STUDENT attitudes ,HEALTH promotion ,VACCINES ,MIDDLE schools ,HEALTH education ,DATA analysis software - Abstract
Background: While vaccines have reduced the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine hesitancy threatens the re-emergence of childhood infectious diseases. Purpose: This randomized controlled study evaluated an online vaccine education program to advance vaccine acceptance among middle-school students. Methodology: Study participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group who viewed the VEP videos or to a comparison group who viewed a science-based video unrelated to vaccines. Results: Knowledge scores improved in both groups and more favorable shifts in vaccine-related beliefs and attitudes occurred in the intervention than in the comparison group. Conclusions: This program can be feasibly delivered via an online platform to middle school students, resulting in shifts in vaccine-related knowledge, beliefs and attitudes. Implications: Delivering evidence-based content to instruct about vaccine effectiveness and safety is an area in which school nurses have demonstrated an important role as a resource for patient education to promote vaccine advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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