Flu Vaccination for Healthcare Workers in Newfoundland and Labrador
The Research Question:
“What programs or program elements have been shown to enhance the uptake of flu vaccination among healthcare professionals?”
Background:
Our stakeholder partners in the Labrador-Grenfell Regional Health Authority asked us to identify any and all programs, interventions, and/or characteristics of programs and interventions that have been shown to enhance the uptake of flu vaccination among healthcare personnel. In requesting this review, our partners noted that increasing seasonal flu vaccination rates among healthcare workers would decrease the spread of influenza virus and flu disease among vulnerable populations, as well as reducing associated mortality, co-morbidity and related costs. Increased vaccination rates would also decrease the rates of absenteeism among healthcare workers at a time of expected increased healthcare utilization.
This Rapid Evidence Report therefore covered all categories of healthcare workers, paying particular attention to front-line personnel. We selected research articles that measure vaccination rates directly, as well as articles that measure outcomes that may affect vaccination rates – such as healthcare workers’ knowledge and attitudes concerning vaccination programs. There is a voluminous literature that addresses the behavioral and demographic predictors of healthcare personnel vaccination (e.g., age of worker, occupation, previous vaccination history); however, in order to provide the most practically useful information to our stakeholder partners, we focused strictly on programs and program elements that increase flu vaccination uptake.
Researchers and Consultants:
Researchers from the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research included: Robert Kean, Research Officer, Contextualized Health Research Synthesis Program (CHRSP), Dr. Stephen Bornstein, Director of NLCAHR, and Meagan MacKenzie, Research Assistant. Our team benefited from the advice and expertise of Dr. Allison McGeer, Infectious Disease Consultant at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.