Trusted Messengers
Background:
Primary care providers (PCPs) are the most trusted source of information about the COVID-19 vaccine, across all demographic groups. A brief recommendation from a PCP increases intent to be vaccinated (see Figure 1 on the right).
Project Goals: To develop and test a multi-faceted intervention to support PCP outreach and communication with patients about the COVID-19 vaccine that includes the following components:
- Online library of brief videos depicting local PCPs responding to common questions & concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine with link to be disseminated by text message
- Automated PCP text messaging with evidence-based recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination
- Educational materials for PCPs to support their conversations with patients about the COVID-19 vaccine
Project timeline:
| May 2021 – May 2022 | Preparation: Documentation and approval, focus groups with patients and providers, video and website creation. |
| June 2022 – July 2023 |
Intervention in clinics and data collection. 11,721 texts were sent to patients who had not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 from their PCP/Clinic with a link to a website (see screenshot below) with information about COVID-19 vaccines and encouraging them to visit the website. (7,366 texts sent to UMMHC patients; 4,355 sent to FHC patients)
6 clinics at UMMHC were intervention sites (Worcester Internal Medicine, Fitchburg Family Medicine, Lincoln St. Primary Care, Chadwick Square IM, Benedict IM, Hahnemann Family Health Center), and there were 6 control clinics (Lincoln St. Internal Medicine, Health Alliance Fitchburg, Montachusett Internal Medicine, Hahnemann Medical Group, Barre, Benedict FM) Data collected will include demographics (age, gender, race, ethnicity) along with dates of COVID-19 vaccinations, if any recorded. The proportion of clinic patients unvaccinated at the start of the intervention who complete the vaccine series within 6 months of the last text reminder is the primary outcome. Characteristics of clinics at the intervention start and of initially unvaccinated patients will be summarized across the aggregate sample and compared between randomization arms |
| August 2023 – December 2023 | Analysis of collected data and intervention implementation. |
| Jan 2024 | Analysis of collected data and intervention implementation |
