An Improvement Project Around Staffs' Influenza Vaccine Uptake

An Improvement Project to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Different Reminders Designed to Increase the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust's Staff Uptake of the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine

To reach seasonal vaccination against influenza targets, University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) already invites staff to take up the vaccination, and every November reminds staff that have not yet vaccinated to do so. The current protocol describes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which staff will be sent different reminders, and the investigators will compare the proportion of staff that go on to vaccinate after receiving each reminder.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Influenza Vaccination
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Communication intervention

Detailed Description

Seasonal vaccination against influenza is recommended for NHS staff. , To increase vaccination rates, NHS England put forth a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation goal for the 2018/2019 season of 75%. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) wants its vaccination rate to surpass this target. Since staff get infected outside of the hospital and from patients staff vaccination does not provide significant 'herd immunity'

To reach past targets, every September UHB already invites staff to take up the vaccination, and regularly reminds staff that have not yet vaccinated to do so. The current protocol describes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which staff will be sent a different letter when first invited to receive vaccination, and we will compare the proportion of staff that go on to vaccinate after receiving each type of letter..

To conduct the RCT the research team will design four letter styles. One factor will emphasize an authority figure inviting staff to vaccinate (the Chief Executive, who is also a doctor). The other factor will emphasize a competitive social norm describing vaccination rates in peer hospitals, including Addenbrooke's, Cambridge University Hospitals (which has exemplary rates) see appendix A and across American hospitals (which also have high rates). Letters will be sent to staff in the first week in October by UHB's communications team and they will be disseminated in a randomized fashion.

The UoW's role in this study is to advise the study's design and write-up the project for publication. UHB will approve the reminders, send the reminders, retrieve the data, and analyse the data. No individual-level data will be transferred across organizations. All individual-level data will be managed by authorized UHB employees, e.g., a UHB statistician will randomize staff to receive different reminders and analyze the data, and UHB's communication team to disseminate the reminders.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 8438
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Birmingham, United Kingdom, B15 2GW
    • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All UHB staff eligible for the seasonal influenza vaccination are eligible for this study. (no patients are included)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Other: Control Condition; A general communication intervention will occur inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination, without a specific authority or social norm designated.	Other: Communication intervention; The intervention is a communication inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination. Different versions of the communication are created, and the investigators will compare uptake rates between staff that received different letters.
Other: Authority Condition; A communication intervention will occur inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination with a specific authority but not a social norm designated.	Other: Communication intervention; The intervention is a communication inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination. Different versions of the communication are created, and the investigators will compare uptake rates between staff that received different letters.
Other: Norms Condition; A communication intervention will occur inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination with a social norm but not a specific authority designated.	Other: Communication intervention; The intervention is a communication inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination. Different versions of the communication are created, and the investigators will compare uptake rates between staff that received different letters.
Other: Authority + Norms Condition; A communication intervention will occur inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination with a specific authority and a social norm designated.	Other: Communication intervention; The intervention is a communication inviting staff to take up the influenza vaccination. Different versions of the communication are created, and the investigators will compare uptake rates between staff that received different letters.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vaccination uptake	Whether participants vaccinated (Yes, No)	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vaccination uptake date	The date participants received vaccination (DD-MM-YYYY or blank if not vaccinated)	3 months
Vaccination uptake reflusal	Whether participants formally indicated refusal to vaccinate (Yes, No)	3 months
Vaccination uptake alternative location	Whether participants formally indicated being vaccinated at another location (Yes, No)	3

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Group number	This data describes what communication participants received	3 months
Worksite	This data describes what location within the organization participants work	3 months
Job Role	This data describes participants' job roles	3 months
Gender	This data describes participants' gender	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Warwick
• Collaborators: University Hospital Birmingham
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Richard J Lilford, University of Warwick

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 24, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 4, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): January 4, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 13, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 16, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 17, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 23, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 20, 2019
• Last Verified: January 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Orthomyxoviridae Infections; Influenza, Human
• Other Study ID Numbers: RRK6479

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual data will not be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No