“I See a lot of Crazy Things and I Don’t Know What to Believe”: Lessons Learned about Health Literacy and Strategies for Communicating with Vaccine-Hesitant College Students

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the American College Health Association (ACHA) has partnered with CommunicateHealth (CH) to develop COVID-19 mitigation resources for colleges and universities. In 2021, the CH team conducted a series of applied research activities to gain a nuanced understanding of factors that shape perceptions of risk and drive vaccine hesitancy among campus audiences—especially college students who are emerging adults (approximately ages 18 to 22). Based on our findings, CH and ACHA identified key traits of vaccine-hesitant college students and implications for future vaccine communication campaigns. First, vaccine-hesitant students are more likely to ask “why” and “how” questions such as “Why do I need to get vaccinated?” and “How was the vaccine developed and tested?”. Secondly, these students want to have open, authentic dialogue rather than simply accepting health recommendations from a trusted source. Finally, the CH team noted that vaccine-hesitant students were not highly motivated by their own personal risk of getting sick from COVID-19; concern about spreading COVID-19 to others was a much stronger motivating factor. Leveraging these insights, CH and ACHA developed strategies to apply health literacy principles to reach vaccine-hesitant college students with the right information at the right time—and to leverage relevant motivators and overcome barriers to vaccination. By implementing these strategies, CH and ACHA developed clear and empowering educational materials about COVID-19 vaccination tailored to the unique information needs of vaccine-hesitant students.