Targeted Vaccinations: Client or Family Incentives

Client or family incentives use financial or other incentives to motivate people at risk to accept vaccinations. Incentives may be positive (rewards) or negative (penalties). This approach is based on the idea that clients will be motivated to seek vaccinations if they receive rewards (e.g. money or discount coupons for retail establishments) or face penalties (e.g. being excluded from participation in a program).

Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings

The Community Preventive Services Task Force finds insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of using client or family incentives when implemented alone in improving influenza, pneumococcal polysaccharide, or hepatitis B vaccination coverage in high-risk adults because only one study qualified for review.

Task Force Finding

 

Results from the Systematic Reviews

One study qualified for the systematic review. This study evaluated the implementation of a $10 incentive to increase hepatitis B vaccination coverage among recruited injection drug users. The incentive increased vaccination by 35 percentage points. Although this is a relatively large increase, this single study alone did not provide enough evidence for the Task Force to determine whether or not client incentives by themselves are effective in increasing vaccination coverage.

These results were based on a systematic review of all available studies, conducted on behalf of the Task Force by a team of specialists in systematic review methods, and in research, practice, and policy related to vaccinations to prevent diseases.

Economic Review

An economic review of this intervention was not conducted because the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine its effectiveness.

Supporting Materials

• Analytic framework [PDF - 728KB] - see Figure 1 on page 251
• Summary evidence table [PDF - 728KB] - See Appendix on pages 265-279

Publications

CDC. Improving influenza, pneumococcal polysaccharide, and hepatitis B vaccination coverage among adults aged <65 years at high risk: a report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. MMWR 2005;54(No. RR-5):1-12.

Task Force for Community Preventive Services. Recommendations to improve targeted vaccination coverage among high-risk adults. [PDF - 97KB] Am J Prev Med 2005:28(5S);231-7.

Ndiaye SM, Hopkins DP, Smith SJ, et al. Methods for conducting systematic reviews of targeted vaccination strategies for The Guide to Community Preventive Services. [PDF - 132KB] Am J Prev Med 2005:28(5S);238-47. 

Ndiaye SM, Hopkins DP, Shefer AM, et al. Interventions to improve influenza, pneumococcal polysaccharide, and hepatitis B vaccination coverage among high-risk adults: a systematic review. [PDF - 728KB] Am J Prev Med 2005:28(5S);248-79.

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Vaccine preventable diseases. [PDF - 97KB] In : Zaza S, Briss PA, Harris KW, eds. The Guide to Community Preventive Services: What Works to Promote Health? Atlanta (GA): Oxford University Press;2005:223-303.

More Community Guide publications about Vaccinations to Prevent Diseases

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Sample Citation

The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Sample citation: Guide to Community Preventive Services. Targeted vaccinations: client or family incentives. www.thecommunityguide.org/vaccines/targeted/clientincentives.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.

Review completed: June 2002