Fostering flu vaccination among health workers; Forum Theatre and On Site Vaccination in Hospital

Background Influenza affects approximately 10% of the general population leading to high morbidity and mortality especially in elderly and frail people. For this reason flu vaccination is recommended among health care workers (HCWs) in order to protect immunocompromised patients. The low vaccination rate, registered among Gemelli Teaching Hospital HCWs during the last years, called for new engaging approaches to improve flu vaccination coverage. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of two complementary new strategies: Forum Theatre (FT) and On Site Vaccination (OSV). Methods FT, a theatrical methodology of social and political change promotion, has recently been used in health care settings to foster HCWs engagement and empowerment. The Hospital Health Management of Gemelli Teaching Hospital organized FT sessions inviting participants by means of posters and e-mail remind whereas OSV was proposed directly during the daily activity, by Preventive Medicine Service. The intervention was promoted only in some Clinical Units (CU) which were compared with others matched for patient’ risk profile and considered as control. Chi Squared test was used to assess differences in vaccination coverage between groups; statistical significance was set at p value = 0.05. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 22 for windows. Results FT sessions and OSV were realized between October and December 2015 in 9 CU considered at risk for the immunological status of patients, involving overall 412 HCWs. Matched control CU accounted for a total of 399 HCWs. The vaccination coverage in HCWs belonging to CU that received the interventions was 13,6% compared to 4,8% among controls (p < 0.001). Conclusions This new additional strategies were effective in achieving an higher vaccination coverage among HCWs and therefore can be considered as a valuable intervention in health care settings. Key message: Participative strategies, such as FT and OSV, are important to foster flu vaccination in order to improve the coverage among HCWs and to protect the whole hospital community