Universally Recommended Vaccinations: Community-Wide Education When Used Alone

Community-wide education provides information to most or all of a target population in a geographic area. Information is disseminated with the goal of informing, encouraging, and motivating individuals to seek recommended vaccinations. Content generally focuses on vaccination risks and benefits, as well as where and when vaccinations can be obtained. Approaches may include:

• Person-to-person interactions
• Community mobilization
• Mass or small media

These interventions may also provide information to vaccination providers in the community.

Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings

The Community Preventive Services Task Force concludes there is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of community-wide education when implemented alone in increasing vaccination rates or reducing rates of vaccine preventable illness.

Evidence is considered to be insufficient because the included studies demonstrate inconsistent results. The Task Force finding also reflects concerns about the applicability of evidence from the study communities to the broader range of communities in the United States where improvements in vaccination rates are needed.

Community-wide education is commonly implemented in combination with additional interventions. Based on a separate review, the Task Force found strong evidence of effectiveness for community-based interventions implemented in combination to increase vaccination rates. This recommendation provides guidance on ways to implement community-wide education in combination with other interventions.

Task Force Finding & Rationale Statement

Results from the Systematic Review

The Task Force finding is based on evidence from a Community Guide systematic review published in 2000 (search period 1980-1997) combined with more recent evidence (search period 1997-2009). The Task Force finding of insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness of this intervention remains unchanged.

Learn more about the original review and Task Force finding in the Vaccinations to Prevent Diseases section of our publications page.

Six studies qualified for this review (one from the previous review and five from the more recent search). Most of the evaluated interventions used more than one strategy to deliver educational messages (such as large and small media with community mobilization). Three of the included studies were conducted outside the United States (Finland, Australia, and Switzerland), and four focused on vaccinations for adults.

Across the studies, results were inconsistent.

• Overall vaccination rates: median increase of 6 percentage points (range: 0.4 to 12.2 percentage points; 4 studies, 6 study arms).
• Evaluations of mass media campaigns also showed improvements in vaccination rates but the studies used different measures (2 studies).
• The two most effective interventions were conducted in urban immigrant communities with unique characteristics and may not be generalizable to a broader range of communities.

The review findings are 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.

Publications

The findings and results of this systematic review have not been published. Read other Community Guide publications about Vaccinations to Prevent Diseases in our library, including articles about the previous review. You may also subscribe to be notified as new materials on this topic become available.

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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. Universally recommended vaccinations: community-wide education when used alone. www.thecommunityguide.org/vaccines/universally/communitywideeducation.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.

Review completed: March 2010