COVID-19 vaccines are available to children over six months, and these vaccines arepowerful tools against this catastrophic pandemic. However, Hispanic/Latino children havelower COVID-19 vaccination rates than White non-Hispanic children .Our team of healthcommunication and public health experts proposes a community-based theory-drivenintervention that utilizes culturally-grounded narratives from digital storytelling toreduce Hispanic parents' COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and increase their children's vaccineuptake.
Among children and adolescents, infection with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) can lead to health
complications (e.g., multisystem inflammatory syndrome, long COVID), hospitalizations,
and death. COVID-19 vaccines are available to children over six months, and these
vaccines are powerful tools against this catastrophic pandemic. However, Hispanic/Latino
children have lower COVID-19 vaccination rates than White non-Hispanic children3 In most
southwestern U.S. states, Hispanic children have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates
among pediatric populations. Lower vaccination rates in children are primarily due to
parental vaccine hesitancy. Considerably more work is needed to decrease parental
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Hispanic parents.
Narrative-based interventions are powerful tools for persuading individuals to enact
health behaviors (vaccination) that require an immediate personal cost (discomfort) for a
longer-term gain (disease immunity). Our current study will examine digital storytelling
(DST), a specific form of culturally-grounded narrative developed via community
engagement, to reduce Hispanic parents' COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. No research, to our
knowledge, has used digital stories to decrease Hispanic parents' vaccine hesitancy.
Therefore, it is critical to assess which stories resonate with and are most persuasive
for those who are hesitant to have their children receive COVID-19 doses and then explore
the impact of an intervention utilizing these stories on parents' decisions to vaccinate
their children against COVID-19.
Specific Aims:
Aim 1: Develop one digital story per participant (n=10; each story lasting 2-3 minutes)
in a DST workshop with a sample of Hispanic parents/ legal guardians converted from being
COVID-19 vaccine-hesitant to vaccine-accepting.
Aim 2: Assess the feasibility and acceptability of a web-based pilot DST intervention vs.
an information-only control among Hispanic parents and legal guardians (n=80) of children
who are not up-to-date with CDC-recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Exploratory aim: The investigators will explore intervention and control group
participants' (n=80) patterns of pre- to post-intervention change in vaccine uptake
perceptions, vaccine hesitancy, intentions to vaccinate children against COVID-19, and
children's vaccine uptake at two months post-intervention.
Behavioral: Baseline surveys
Baseline surveys contained a series of scaled questions, including sociodemographic
variables (age, gender, income, education level, relationship to the child), parental
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, intentions to vaccinate child against COVID-19, and parents'
attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control about vaccinating their
child against COVID-19,
Other Name: Baseline questionnaire
Behavioral: Digital Storytelling Intervention
In Aim 1, the investigators are creating intervention materials for Study Aim 2. These
intervention materials include ten digital stories (each 2-3 minutes long) with a diverse
sample of Hispanic parents and legal guardians who transformed from being COVID-19
vaccine-hesitant to vaccine-accepting. Each story uses individuals' own brief
first-person visual narratives/stories that use digital images, audio recordings, music,
and text to document personal experiences.
Other Name: Digital Storytelling,Storytelling
Behavioral: Information Control Intervention
The control group participants will receive a CDC COVID-19 vaccine information sheet
appropriate for their child's age.
Other Name: Control Intervention
Inclusion Criteria:
- self-identifies as Hispanic
- is a biological parent or a legal guardian of at least one child under 18 years old
- their child(ren) are not vaccinated against up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccine doses
- agrees to send and receive a text message and submit a photo of their child's
immunization record for T3 data collection.
Exclusion Criteria:
- individuals who do not meet inclusion criteria or are unable/ unwilling to provide
consent.
Arizona State University
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Investigator: Sunny W Kim, PhD
Contact: 602-496-6789
Sunny.Kim@asu.edu
Alexis Koskan, Ph.D
602-496-6789
Alexis.Koskan@asu.edu
Sunny W Kim, Ph.D
602-496-6789
Sunny.Kim@asu.edu