Put the right spin on flu vaccination
Snappy campaigns help raise rates for flu shots
Every year, the basic message is the same: Get your flu shot. But hospitals around the country have found innovative ways to market that message - and get the attention of health care workers. Here are a few campaigns highlighted by the Joint Commission in its recent monograph on influenza vaccination.
Have you done the ONE thing? "Every year, to generate enthusiasm, we try to think of some catchy title to start the campaign," says Kelly Hefti, MSN, RN, CNP, COHN-S, manager of health and safety for the Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD. "'The one thing' kept popping out [as a theme]. If we could just get [health care workers] to do this one thing, we know we could prevent 36,000 illnesses [nationally from the flu]."
Educational material asked employees to do "the ONE thing" and explained why it would make a difference. Everyone who received a flu shot got a sticker that proclaimed, "I did the ONE thing." Flu vaccinators wore T-shirts that said, "Have you done the ONE thing? Get your flu vaccination."
"It definitely generated dialogue among co-workers," says Hefti.
The medical center already had reached a relatively high level of immunization - 73%. The campaign helped rally employees to get their shots, but it didn't affect those who typically declined to be vaccinated. The rate of immunization remained steady.
This year, Sanford Medical Center is reaching for the 80% mark - the level of vaccination coverage that is considered to provide "herd" immunity. The new slogan: "Join the herd." Vaccinators will sport white T-shirts with black spots.
Red Dot Campaign: At State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, it was very apparent who had received the flu vaccine and who had not. Vaccinated employees received a simple "red dot" sticker to wear on their identification badges.
That simple strategy caused quite a stir. Employees who received their vaccines before the Red Dot Campaign began asked to have one. Employees who chose not to have the vaccine fretted about the visible absence of the dot.
"It's revealing they didn't do something they should have done, and they were not happy with that - which was exactly what we had intended," says K. Bruce Simmons, MD, director of employee/student health.
Simmons credits the Red Dot Campaign with helping to boost the hospital from a 42% vaccination rate to 58% - close to the hospital's goal of 60%.
This year, the hospital plans to use a similar campaign. Vaccination rates may also be boosted by concern over the novel H1N1, which continued to circulate in New York state during the summer.
Baby, Be Wise - Immunize: It starts with me and you, our fight against the flu. Don't we gotta be there when others need us? ... It's time for each of us to step up and make a difference.
With a doo-wop, lab technicians, food service workers, nurses, doctors, and other employees throughout the hospital were singing and dancing to the catchy tune. But the message was a serious one, meant to counter the common reasons that health care workers choose not to get the flu vaccine.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia created the five-minute video with the creative assistance of Ryan A. Leonard, a UPenn senior and hospital volunteer. PennYo, a Chinese a cappella group at the university, sang the song; various employees lip-synced to it in the video.
"It definitely rallied the troops," says Mel Kearney, RN, BSN, a staff nurse in occupational medicine who coordinated the video project. "I think it helped to break down barriers. We're sharing information in a fun way."
UPenn played the video on the hospital's internal web site and on a big screen at the flu "fair," a carnival-like event that launched the flu vaccine campaign. The video is available on the video- sharing site, YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruGgZbAVnko). A story on the video was featured on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"I think it was really a heart-warming production and people were thrilled by it," says Amy Behrman, MD, medical director of occupational medicine. Beyond entertainment, the video also provided some response to common concerns, such as the belief that the flu vaccine could make you sick. "It did explicitly answer questions that were raised on our declination forms the prior year."
As the flu vaccine campaign launched, the hospital's nursing leadership and physicians teamed up with a joint position paper strongly urging employees to receive their flu vaccines. The efforts paid off; the vaccination rate of employees with direct patient contact rose by 16% to 57%.
"We had many people comment that this was the first time they had gotten vaccinated, that they loved the video and they felt reassured by it," she says.
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases: At Community Health Care Inc., an ambulatory care provider in Davenport, IA, creating the flu vaccine campaign was truly a joint effort. Employees submitted suggestions for a slogan, and then voted on their favorites at the company picnic. The two finalists received $25 gift certificates to a local grocery store and the winner received a $50 check.
The contest immediately brought attention to the new slogan: Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.
Meanwhile, Community Health surveyed employees using the online tool Survey Monkey to find out why they got the annual vaccine - or why they didn't. "What we found was surprising," says Marie Wisely, MBA, CPHQ, director of quality. "We always geared our education toward protecting the patient. That was No. 3 on the list. Folks said they took the vaccine because they wanted to protect themselves and their family members and they didn't want to use their precious time off if they were sick." They also didn't want to place greater pressure on their co-workers if they were out sick, she says.
Community Health used that information in a PowerPoint presentation to target the vaccine education. The educator also provided a question-and-answer period.
The outpatient system also created a friendly competition with cross-disciplinary teams. Any team that attained 90% vaccination could wear jeans for a two-week period in January.
The result: a 94% vaccination rate through a voluntary campaign.
Every year, the basic message is the same: Get your flu shot. But hospitals around the country have found innovative ways to market that message - and get the attention of health care workers. Here are a few campaigns highlighted by the Joint Commission in its recent monograph on influenza vaccination.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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