Recommend

This process includes who will be responsible for making recommendations to staff and residents. Identify trusted messengers who can effectively communicate the importance of vaccination as well as how to address hesitancies and record declinations.

Implementing a peer champion program can help enhance the recommendation process. Collaborating with community partners can supplement conversations about hesitancy. And consider offering recommended vaccines on a calendar basis to spread out the workload.

Here are some steps you can take to achieve this

  • Empower CNAs and frontline staff

  • Include interventions such as office hours for the medical director, sitting at the nurse’s station

  • Address/understand concerns and reasons for hesitancy, address specific concerns

  • Use proven models for communication

Address vaccine hesitancy, concerns, and misinformation

Here are some steps you can take to achieve this

  • Aim for the middle ground (not individuals with a fixed mindset about vaccines who are unlikely to be swayed). People in the middle may need additional time, information, or assurance.

  • It’s normal to have questions or concerns about vaccines. Hesitancy should not be judged or shamed. It’s about meeting the person where they are and reassuring and educating them.

  • Ask vaccine-hesitant people open-ended question about why they feel the way they do and where they got their information. Listen to their answers before you respond. Mention your reasons for getting vaccinated and why you chose to; everyone’s vaccine story is personal.

  • Knowing what exactly the person is hesitant about/afraid of (vaccine side-effects, the needle, misinformation about how/why vaccines are developed or promoted) and address those concerns directly.

Additional Resources

Alliance for Aging Research

Fact sheet that provides an overview on how vaccines work, explains the benefits of vaccination, gives tips on spotting misinformation and disinformation, and debunks some of the most common myths regarding childhood and adult vaccination including a new section on COVID-19 vaccines. View Here

PALTmed – Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association

An hour long discussion about how to encourage resident and staff vaccination in facilities this winter. View Here

American College of Physicians

Stay up to date on the latest pneumococcal and flu vaccine recommendations and learn time-saving tips to make effective vaccine recommendations and boost vaccine confidence. View Here

Staff Specific

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Toolkit that outlines the importance of influenza vaccination for HCP, provides strategies for increasing influenza vaccination coverage among HCP, and describes tools a facility may use for monitoring influenza vaccination coverage among their HCP throughout an influenza season. View Here

PALTmed – Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association

Answers for frequently asked questions about hepatitis B disease and the hepatitis B vaccine. View Here

PALTmed – Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association

An informational poster for long-term care staff about hepatitis B disease and the hepatitis B vaccine View Here

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Video with long-term care staff who moved from being initially uncertain about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to accepting it, and encourage their peers to do the same View Here

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Answers to frequently asked questions about vaccine safety and pregnancy, along with information for each adult vaccination and why it is important. View Here

Boston University School of Public Health

Summary of new data on fertility after COVID-19 vaccine View Here

American Journal of Epidemiology

Journal article describing findings indicating that the COVID-19 vaccination does not impair fertility in males or females View Here

Resident Specific

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Algorithm to help determine which residents need which pneumococcal vaccines, includes very detailed specific circumstances as well as general overview of current recommendations View Here

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Flyer with facts for older adults regarding why they need an influenza vaccine View Here

Recommendations

Vaccine Hesitancy Concerns

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Explains the Share, Highlight, Address, Remind, Explain model for communication View Here

The Manufacturing Institute and the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida

Specific to COVID-19 but the conversation tips are applicable to most other vaccines View Here

PALTmed – Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association

Toolkit with sample presentations for staff, checklists, and other resources View Here

Vaccine Misinformation/Disinformation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Specific strategies to address misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccine View Here