About
About
The DEV-SHP project is a Digital Ethno-epidemiological investigation employing tools of digital science, anthropology, and epidemiology to tackle the media and social dynamics and consequences of vaccine sentiments among healthcare worker (HCW) populations in France, one of Europe’s most vaccine hesitant countries.
Healthcare workers are a crucial professional group in encouraging public vaccine uptake: as a highly trusted group, HCWs provide medical care and translate medical knowledge for patients. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted real hesitation among HCWs to accept vaccination and promote it among their patients. Current approaches identify socio-demographic and psychological determinants of HCW vaccine acceptance and skepticism but neglect the dynamic information environment (including social media) and social relations that influence HCW perceptions, sentiments, and decisions.
Building on successful pre-studies, this project addresses the phenomenon of “unspoken vaccine sentiments” — vaccine hesitation, acceptance, or refusal that remains hidden because HCWs fear the consequences of sharing their views with colleagues and patients. These sentiments have serious consequences, including affecting the quality of care for patients and the functioning of healthcare teams.
Central research questions
- What information environments, media uses, and socio-historical relations generate and sustain vaccine sentiments among HCWs in France?
- How are these sentiments shared or silenced in healthcare contexts, and with what consequences?
- What interventions can best assist HCWs to make informed vaccine decisions and mitigate negative consequences of vaccine sentiments?
Project objectives
- Characterize online vaccine narratives circulating on social media in France using opinion mining, thematic analysis, and AI techniques (supervised machine learning text classification)
- Characterize qualitatively the range, media and socio-historical dynamics, and consequences of vaccine sentiments among HCWs through in-depth interviews
- Assess quantitatively HCW declared and unspoken vaccine sentiments and their consequences on vaccine acceptance and vaccine promotion with patients, through a nationally representative survey
- Co-develop vaccine dialogue interventions with HCWs that will assist them in making informed choices and mitigate negative consequences on health team functioning, equitable patient treatment, and HCW vaccine coverage
Methodology
The project employs an innovative transdisciplinary mixed-methods approach organized in five work packages:
- WP1: Coordination & Management – Ethical implementation, Scientific Advisory Board, dissemination
- WP2: Online Social Listening – Machine learning analysis of vaccine narratives on social media; development of a real-time vaccine sentiment dashboard
- WP3: Qualitative Investigation – 40 in-depth interviews with nurses, nursing assistants, and physicians in Paris
- WP4: National Survey – Representative survey of 2,000 HCWs across France to quantify unspoken vaccine sentiments
- WP5: Vaccine Dialogue Interventions – Co-construction and pilot evaluation of two dialogue interventions with HCWs and stakeholders
The study focuses on three recommended vaccinations that have generated considerable recent debate: COVID-19, influenza, and whooping cough.
Expected impact
- Academic impact: Pioneer the field of digital ethno-epidemiology; four open-access peer-reviewed publications
- Public health impact: Inform strategies for improving vaccine uptake among HCWs and the patients they advise; develop action-oriented recommendations for public health communication
- Policy impact: Engage policymakers through the Scientific Advisory Board; create pathways for findings to inform policy and healthcare practices
- Communication: Real-time online vaccine sentiment dashboard; policy briefs; stakeholder workshops
