“Little Seeds of Information”: Perspectives from Home Health Aides and Palliative Care Research Cooperative (PCRC) Community Hospice Partners to Address Information Needs Related to COVID-19 Vaccination (FR222A)

Outcomes: 1. Upon successful completion, participants will self-report the ability to apply PEN-3 framework to community-based research, emphasizing the role of culture in health behaviors, especially in underserved populations 2. Upon successful completion, participants will self-report the ability to collaborate with hospice partners to answer relevant research questions BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, home health aides (HHAs) cared for patients vulnerable to COVID-19 and its complications. HHAs are disproportionately minority women and represent communities most impacted by COVID-19, and yet are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to other healthcare workers. AIMS/PURPOSE: We engaged HHAs and PCRC hospice administrators in the design of a culturally concordant communication toolkit that addresses misinformation and mistrust related to COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS: We partnered with four geographically diverse community hospice agencies in an iterative co-design process involving multi-stakeholder qualitative interviews (n=25 HHAs and administrators), community engagement (CE) studios, and development of a communication toolkit. Interviews were guided by the PEN-3 conceptual framework to explore multilevel barriers and facilitators to vaccination. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. We used CE studios with HHAs and administrators to refine and finalize a communication toolkit prototype. RESULTS: Despite differences in power and status, HHAs and administrators share the professional commitment to protecting patients/families affected by serious illness. HHAs desire vaccine message content that includes personal narratives, good news about the vaccine, and vaccination's negative and positive aspects. Preferred message formats were via the agency intranet, daily briefings, or “little seeds” of short, frequent infobytes. Through CE studios, HHAs iteratively designed a communication toolkit with messages tailored to the culture and context of home health. Administrators found the communication toolkit appropriate and feasible for dissemination, especially with flexibility to customize. The toolkit is available for wide dissemination on the PCRC website. CONCLUSIONS: Grounded in the shared commitment of HHAs and administrators to protecting patients and families, we created an adaptable Communication Toolkit to address COVID-19 vaccination misinformation and mistrust among HHAs. Next steps include testing usability and potential influence on knowledge and behaviors related to COVID-19 vaccination.