Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Through Technology

Vaccine hesitancy is a growing issue, especially in underresourced communities. At stake is the very fabric of public health around the world. Thanks to a generous gift from the Vaccine Confidence Fund (VCF), an initiative of Advancing Health Online, a Stanford program has more resources to combat vaccine hesitancy.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) work in under-resourced communities every day and are the trusted medical care providers for millions of people. CHWs share information with their patients and play a vital role in combatting vaccine hesitancy.

Digital education tools like websites, videos, and social media reach people where they’re at, in languages they prefer, and in ways that resonate with them. These tools can be harnessed to bolster CHWs’ efforts to address outdated and incorrect information circulating in communities.

The team at Digital Medic, an initiative of the Stanford Center for Health Education, collaborates with organizations worldwide to develop and evaluate health education tools, especially for medically underserved communities. The goal is to equip community educators and CHWs with the best means of spreading awareness and trust of vaccines.

Thanks to VCF’s gift, Digital Medic has been able to partner with the Lwala Community Alliance, a community-led health organization in Kenya, and Dimagi, an expert in technology solutions for low-resource communities, to provide CHWs with the right tools and resources to address vaccine hesitancy.

Digital Medic and its partners are working to:

1. Identify sources of vaccine hesitancy through in-depth qualitative feedback in target communities in Kenya.
2. Equip CHWs with vaccine education training that addresses childhood immunization hesitancy sources in their communities.
3. Provide CHWs with a patient-facing chatbot tool deployed through WhatsApp, enabling them to dispel myths and provide reliable educational information directly to communities.

Thank you, Vaccine Confidence Fund, for your dedication to global health equity and accessibility, and for your support of our work to create a healthier future with empowered communities.