Communication and Social Marketing to Promote Seasonal Influenza Immunization Uptake In Segmented Hispanic Populations

Background: According to a recent report, Fighting Flu Fatigue, seasonal flu vaccination rates were 21.7 percent lower for Hispanic adults and 2.6 percent lower for Hispanic children that for Whites.  The low uptake rate in a large, growing and highly segmented portion of the American public, calls for intensified research in the Hispanic community.  The overall goals of this research was to identify new messages and a new messaging framework that will more effectively reach individual segments of the Hispanic population that will ultimately increase inoculation rates against the seasonal flu virus. 

Program background: The research aims to identify new messages and a new messaging framework that will more effectively reach individual segments of the Hispanic population that will ultimately increase inoculation rates against the seasonal flu.  The research provides a rationale for audience segmentation that includes such factors as language preference, education level, health risk behaviors, and socioeconomic status.  The research identifies cultural factors and values that influence preventive health practices for various segments of the Hispanic community.  A Hispanic Risk Communication Model is introduced as a framework to approach the development of uptake messages that were tested through focus groups with segmented audiences. 

Evaluation Methods and Results: Research to test the applicability of the Hispanic Risk Communication model was initiated by conducting focus groups among segmented Hispanic groups consisting of new immigrant less acculturated groups to more acculturated groups, aged 19-50 as a means of capturing their perceptions of risk for the H1N1 influenza infection. Research was conducted among the largest segmented groups of individuals who immigrated or identify as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American (El Salvadoran, Guatemalan) and South American (Columbian, Peruvian, Venezuelan). Mexicans make up 58.5% of the entire Hispanic population followed by Puerto Rican, 9.6%; Cuban 3.5 %; El Salvadoran, 1.9%; Guatemalan, 1.1%; Columbian, 1.3%, Peruvian, 0.7%; and Venezuelan, 0.3%.

Conclusions:  This study is among the first to explore the concerns, motivators, and intentions in regard to adoption of the seasonal flu vaccine among segmented Hispanic audiences.  The research findings suggest that seasonal flu vaccine uptake is not highly adopted by the Hispanic community.  Participants indicated reluctance to accept partially efficacious vaccines, compounded by misunderstandings about H1N1 and the fear of vaccine-induced flu infection, and mistrust of government-sponsored or pharmaceutical company research.  Differences by segmented Hispanic subgroups revealed that acculturation level has an inverse relationship between uptake practices and trust of the flu vaccine.  

Implications for research and/or practice: Research to identify concerns, motivations, and adoption intentions among of Hispanics for seasonal flu vaccine uptake may facilitate the design of successful empirically based interventions.  Although the present findings suggest that Hispanics share a common concern for the health and wellbeing of their families and a general distrust of the flu vaccine safety, specific issues arose in each sub group of the Hispanic community as well.  Further research to assess differential motivators and concerns in regard to seasonal flu vaccine update among diverse Hispanic communities at risk may enable the design of population-specific interventions to increase vaccine uptake and prevent risk behavior increases.