An effective strategy for influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in Australia: experience at a large health service without a mandatory policy.

Abstract:

BACKGROUND:Annual influenza vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs) is recommended in Australia, but uptake in healthcare facilities has historically been low (approximately 50%). The objective of this study was to develop and implement a dedicated campaign to improve uptake of staff influenza annual vaccination at a large Australian health service. METHODS:A quality improvement program was developed at Alfred Health, a tertiary metropolitan health service spanning 3 campuses. Pre-campaign evaluation was performed by questionnaire in 2013 to plan a multimodal vaccination strategy. Reasons for and against vaccination were captured. A campaign targeting clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers was then implemented between March 31 and July 31 2014. Proportional uptake of influenza vaccination was determined by campus and staff category. RESULTS:Pre-campaign questionnaire responses were received from 1328/6879 HCWs (response rate 20.4%), of which 76% were vaccinated. Common beliefs held by unvaccinated staff included vaccine ineffectiveness (37.1%), that vaccination makes staff unwell (21.0%), or that vaccination is not required because staff are at low risk for acquiring influenza (20.2%). In 2014, 6009/7480 (80.3%) staff were vaccinated, with significant improvement in uptake across all campuses and amongst nursing, medical and allied health staff categories from 2013 to 2014 (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:A non-mandatory multimodal strategy utilising social marketing and a customised staff database was successful in increasing influenza vaccination uptake by all staff categories. The sustainability of dedicated campaigns must be evaluated.

journal_name

BMC Infect Dis

journal_title

BMC infectious diseases

authors

Heinrich-Morrison K,McLellan S,McGinnes U,Carroll B,Watson K,Bass P,Worth LJ,Cheng AC

doi

10.1186/s12879-015-0765-7

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2015-02-06 00:00:00

pages

42

issn

1471-2334

pii

s12879-015-0765-7

journal_volume

15

pub_type

杂志文章,多中心研究