IMMUNION Reports and Training Sessions

IMMUNION (“Improving IMMunisation cooperation in the European UNION”) was a 2-year project co-funded by the European Union's 3rd Health programme in 2021-2023. Led by EuroHealthNet, it brought together members of the Coalition for Vaccination, as well as partners working on vaccination across the EU. IMMUNION worked on improving vaccination confidence and uptake, with a focus on underserved populations, by delivering better vaccine education to healthcare professionals and better information to the general public. The project produced various training materials, tools and resources on vaccine communication and confidence, it strengthened collaboration with the media on vaccination, it helped to gain a better understanding of the drivers of vaccine inequalities, and it enhanced the visibility of the Coalition for Vaccination.

Reports

IMMUNION Project Booklet

The IMMUNION booklet provides an overview of the project results at the end of 2 years of intense collaborative work: the training tools and resources designed to support health professionals in their vaccine communication effrts, the advocacy campaigns that were launched or joined by the Coalition for Vaccination members, as well as the the fruitful collaborations with Euractiv Poland and related initiatives.

Vaccine Communication Toolbox

The IMMUNION Vaccine Communication Toolbox is an aggregator of validated vaccine information material. It includes videos, factsheets, communication materials, and articles that help health professionals improve their knowledge on immunisation. The tolbox focuses primarily on four countries (Greece, Italy, Latvia, and Romania), but also includes resources developed by international actors.

Four National Toolboxes to increase vaccine uptake – Report

Building on the vaccine hesitancy reference grid, IMMUNION partners in four EU Member States (Greece, Italy, Latvia and Romania) collected and analysed a series of communication and community engagement tools to help increase vaccine uptake. The tools are available in an interactive database here. More information about the process underlying the construction of the toolbox can be found in this report.

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National vaccination stakeholder roundtables and media trainings - Report

This report describes the methods and results of four national vaccination stakeholder roundtables and media trainings that took place in IMMUNION project countries (Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania) in June 2022. Each roundtable developed a participatory dialogue with a wide range of national stakeholders - including representatives of institutions, health professionals, civil society and media - in the aim of exchanging on communication/community engagement tools for improving vaccine uptake in different population targets. On the basis of conclusions reached during the meetings, partners will move towards co-creating new tools or co-selecting existing tools on vaccine communication from the IMMUNION Toolbox and piloting these tools.

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Co-creating/co-selecting tools for piloting - Report

This report focuses on the pilot activities developed during the final stage of the IMMUNION Project. The pilots focus on the co-creation of new tools or co-selection of existing tools on vaccine communication in four partner countries: Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania. Each country selected and developed specific activities according to a common methodology and national priorities. The respective target groups for the pilots are: Roma women of all ages (Greece); adolescents (Italy, Latvia), and parents (Italy, Latvia, Romania). All pilot activities were designed to recognise and combat vaccine hesitancy and to improve communication/community engagement in target communities and increase vaccine uptake. The report provides details of all activities performed until 30 November 2022 as well as future plans.

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Summary of Survey of Health Professionals Results - Full Report

IMMUNION project conducted a pan-European survey among healthcare professionals revealing that whilst most nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals feel confident to respond to their patients' questions about vaccinations, this is not always the case for all professionals.

Reference Grid: Vaccine hesitancy factors in four EU Members States – Report

IMMUNION partners in four EU Member States (Greece, Italy, Latvia and Romania) developed a grid to analyse factors underlying vaccine hesitancy. This report provides details on the methodology underpinning the grid as well as a summary of the results. Partners built on the grid to develop a toolbox of communication and community engagement resources to increase vaccine uptake. The toolbox, as well as annexes to the reference grid, can be found here.

All-inclusive curriculum on vaccines/vaccinology

Initially drafted within the scope of the VACSATC project (2010), the University of Antwerp has developed all-inclusive curriculum on vaccines/vaccinology. Since its publication, the curriculum has been used, reviewed and adapted, according to the current needs of healthcare providers. The curriculum has been part of several international projects, including the EU-JAV and the IMMUNION project. The curriculum was reviewed by the IMMUNION Scientific Advisory Board and partners and now includes a total of 8 modules, including an elaborate module on communication about vaccines/vaccination. The curriculum was used as the basis for all IMMUNION train-the-trainer sessions. More details can be found in a scientific article here, and the curriculum is freely available for all to download at the link below.

Train the Trainers EU Online Session

IMMUNION partner University of Antwerp hosted a Train the Trainers session with the goal of improving vaccine confidence, with a focus on knowledge and communication about vaccines. This 3 h training provides information on the role of the healthcare professional in the vaccination process, vaccine hesitancy in Europe, and ways to improve health and vaccine literacy. It also contains an extended module on communication about vaccines, introducing techniques such as motivational interviewing, pre- and debunking of misinformation. The final part provides tips and tricks for teaching. You will find tags for each of these sections in the video's description.You can also read the Background Document where you will find the "why" behind this training session and the Final Report.

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Train the Trainers National sessions: Greece, Latvia, Romania

IMMUNION partner University of Antwerp developed a replicable Train the Trainers initiative with the goal of improving vaccine confidence, focusing on knowledge and communication about vaccines. This initiative is based on an initial 3 h training provided to an international audience of trainers of healthcare providers (recording available here). In order to carry forward this training in local settings, national partners organised 3 country sessions in Greece, Latvia and Romania. Although the content of training was similar to the general Train the Trainers session, the sessions were tailored to the needs of the (local) healthcare professionals and presented in the native language. Recordings of the three sessions are available online: Greece, Latvia, Romania. A report summarises the outcome of the sessions, with very promising results on improving confidence to communicate about vaccines and/or teach other healthcare professionals on the topic.

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Vaccination Session Council of European Dentists (CED)

IMMUNION partner University of Antwerp hosted a special training session, tailored to the needs of the European Dentists. The session's aim was to increase confidence on explaining the benefits of immunisation and identify new tools of communication. Topics such as vaccine hesitancy, vaccine literacy, and the role of healthcare providers in the vaccination process are also explored. The session ends with a Q&A addressing the bottlenecks in vaccine communication.

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Vaccination Session Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME)

IMMUNION and the University of Antwerp conducted a training session on Vaccine Confidence and Communication for the The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), one of the co-chairs of the Coalition for Vaccination. Some of the topics discussed included the role of healthcare workers in explaining the benefits of immunisation, the different barriers to COVID-19 vaccination and reasons behind vaccine hesitancy, but also practical ways to address them. At the same time, the session touched on the various consipracy theories that have been circulated during the pandemic and suggested ways to demystify COVID-19 vaccination.

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Outcomes report: Trainings for Coalition for Vaccination members (CPME, CED, EPSA)

IMMUNION and the University of Antwerp have conducted a series of trainings on Vaccine Confidence and Communication, with the specific purpose of advocacy for vaccinology and training. These trainings were organised for three members of the Coalition for Vaccination, namely the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), Council of European Dentists (CED) and the European Pharmacy Student Association (EPSA). The topics discussed included the role of the healthcare providers, vaccine hesitancy and communication techniques to address questions about vaccines. Each session was tailored to the specific audience in terms of content and approach. This report summarizes the outcome of each of these sessions, including the questions that were asked during the Q&A and links to video materials (where available).

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