Let’s Talk Vaccines!
Lessons Learned and Campaigns for Improving Vaccination Rates at Brown University Health
When your endocrinology practice is in the state with the highest vaccination rates in the country, you take note when you see downward trends. In Rhode Island, Dr. Geetha Gopalakrishnan and her team at Brown University Health observed that vaccination rates for both COVID-19 and influenza had dropped. Influenza vaccination rates, which had been close to 70% among patients with diabetes before the COVID-19 epidemic now hovered around 50%. In addition, COVID-19 vaccination rates had dropped in both the clinical and non-clinical staff.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan and her team got to work! They decided they needed to understand reasons why members of the team were not getting the COVID-19 vaccination and how they might address the vaccination declines among the team and patients.
Jane Conti-Dutko, who serves as the Academic Administrator, led a focus group comprised of both clinical and non-clinical staff to help uncover reasons and generate ideas. Half of the focus group participants were up to date on their COVID-19 vaccination at the time of the meeting.
The group shared that the messaging surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine has been inconsistent, and that led to skepticism and a de-prioritization of the vaccine. The silver lining was that there didn’t appear to be a total rejection of the idea of the vaccine, but for many staff, there were questions about the risk-benefit of getting vaccinated. There was no longer a mandate requiring the COVID-19 vaccination, which contributed to a decrease in vaccination rates.
The focus group suggested a multi-component educational campaign and Brown’s “Let’s Talk Vaccines” initiative was born. Starting in January 2025, the Brown Health Endocrinology team started wearing pins and t-shirts with the message “Let’s Talk Vaccines.” The idea is for everyone to see the message that will help open the door to a dialogue about vaccinations.
A second component of the initiative is called, “Is There Anything I Can do to Change Your Mind?” This question creates a mindset for the endocrinology team member and patient. If there is something that can be done, they can talk about it. If not, they can move on.
A third component of the initiative will involve educating the health care team about vaccines during staff meetings and to improve staff vaccination rates. Dr. Gopalakrishnan shared the challenges of promoting flu and COVID vaccinations within any health system, acknowledging that it requires consistent, evidence-based messaging and organizational prioritization.
Dr. Geetha and Jane are hopeful that through the educational campaigns they can raise awareness and vaccination rates for their patients and staff. They can also use the question “Is There Anything I Can do to Change Your Mind?” to frame other needed discussions with patients.
We look forward to learning about the results of their campaign!