Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders
The BOOST (Booster promotion for older outpatients using SMS text reminders) program at Taipei Veterans General Hospital assessed the effectiveness of text message reminders in enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination rates among the elderly, guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). Targeting patients...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2375665 |
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| author | Yi-Cheng Lee Bing-Hau Lee Yi-Hsuan Lin Bih-Ju Wu Tzeng-Ji Chen Wei-Ming Chen Yu-Chun Chen |
| author_facet | Yi-Cheng Lee Bing-Hau Lee Yi-Hsuan Lin Bih-Ju Wu Tzeng-Ji Chen Wei-Ming Chen Yu-Chun Chen |
| author_sort | Yi-Cheng Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The BOOST (Booster promotion for older outpatients using SMS text reminders) program at Taipei Veterans General Hospital assessed the effectiveness of text message reminders in enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination rates among the elderly, guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). Targeting patients aged 65 and above, eligible yet unvaccinated for a COVID-19 booster, this cohort study sent personalized reminders a week prior to their scheduled appointments between April 18, 2022, and May 12, 2022, acting as cues to action to enhance vaccination uptake by overcoming perceived barriers and raising awareness of benefits. Over 5 weeks, the study observed a 38% increase in vaccination rate among 3,500 eligible patients, markedly surpassing the concurrent national rate increase of 4% for the same demographic. The majority of vaccinations occurred within two weeks after the reminder, illustrating the effectiveness of the strategy. Cox regression analysis identified age and time since last vaccination as significant predictors of responsiveness, with those aged 65–74 and 75–84 showing higher uptake, particularly when reminders were sent within 4 months after the last dose. A single reminder proved to be effective. The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of SMS reminders to promote COVID-19 vaccination among the elderly through the strategic use of HBM principles, suggesting a feasible and effective approach to public health communication. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a8ee0fa75f5b4efcb204f8231f3f68d7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2164-5515 2164-554X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics |
| spelling | doaj-art-a8ee0fa75f5b4efcb204f8231f3f68d72025-08-20T03:22:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics2164-55152164-554X2024-12-0120110.1080/21645515.2024.2375665Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message remindersYi-Cheng Lee0Bing-Hau Lee1Yi-Hsuan Lin2Bih-Ju Wu3Tzeng-Ji Chen4Wei-Ming Chen5Yu-Chun Chen6Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanSchool of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanThe BOOST (Booster promotion for older outpatients using SMS text reminders) program at Taipei Veterans General Hospital assessed the effectiveness of text message reminders in enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination rates among the elderly, guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). Targeting patients aged 65 and above, eligible yet unvaccinated for a COVID-19 booster, this cohort study sent personalized reminders a week prior to their scheduled appointments between April 18, 2022, and May 12, 2022, acting as cues to action to enhance vaccination uptake by overcoming perceived barriers and raising awareness of benefits. Over 5 weeks, the study observed a 38% increase in vaccination rate among 3,500 eligible patients, markedly surpassing the concurrent national rate increase of 4% for the same demographic. The majority of vaccinations occurred within two weeks after the reminder, illustrating the effectiveness of the strategy. Cox regression analysis identified age and time since last vaccination as significant predictors of responsiveness, with those aged 65–74 and 75–84 showing higher uptake, particularly when reminders were sent within 4 months after the last dose. A single reminder proved to be effective. The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of SMS reminders to promote COVID-19 vaccination among the elderly through the strategic use of HBM principles, suggesting a feasible and effective approach to public health communication.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2375665Text message reminderSMSCOVID-19boostervaccinevaccination |
| spellingShingle | Yi-Cheng Lee Bing-Hau Lee Yi-Hsuan Lin Bih-Ju Wu Tzeng-Ji Chen Wei-Ming Chen Yu-Chun Chen Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Text message reminder SMS COVID-19 booster vaccine vaccination |
| title | Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| title_full | Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| title_short | Enhancing COVID-19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| title_sort | enhancing covid 19 booster vaccination among the elderly through text message reminders |
| topic | Text message reminder SMS COVID-19 booster vaccine vaccination |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2375665 |
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