Conspiracy narratives and vaccine hesitancy: a scoping review of prevalence, impact, and interventions.

Believing conspiracy narratives is frequently assumed to be a major cause of vaccine hesitancy, i.e., the tendency to forgo vaccination despite its availability.

Explaining seasonality increases perceived effectiveness of influenza vaccination: An experimental study.

Background: Doubts regarding vaccine effectiveness may prompt people to decide against a seasonal influenza vaccination. While fact boxes show the effectiveness in terms of cases prevented, people often lack knowledge about important contextual factors, for example, why the vaccine formulation needs to be updated annually, the vaccine mechanism and relevance of the antigen-virus match. Adding such contextual information could improve effectiveness perceptions.

Study protocol of the planetary health action survey PACE: a serial cross-sectional survey to assess the readiness to act against climate change.

Introduction: Climate change is a paramount global health threat with multifaceted implications. Societal change is required to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, as well as help people adapt to the associated health risks. This requires situation-specific, large-scale data to help scientists and policymakers understand public perceptions and behaviours and identify the levers to increase public readiness to act against climate change and protect health.

Association of the belief in conspiracy narratives with vaccination status and recommendation behaviours of German physicians.

Vaccine hesitancy has been identified as one of the top ten threats to global health by the World Health Organization (WHO). The belief in conspiracy narratives is repeatedly discussed as a major driver of vaccine hesitancy among the general population. However, there is a lack of research investigating the role of the belief in conspiracy narratives in vaccination decisions and recommendation behaviours of physicians.

[Vaccine hesitancy in postpandemic times-A guide for physicians].

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emphasized the importance of vaccinations for the prevention of life-threatening diseases and for avoiding the overburdening of the healthcare system. Despite the clear advantage of vaccinations, increasing vaccine hesitancy has been observed worldwide, especially among young people who are potential future parents. Vaccine hesitancy describes the delayed or lack of willingness to utilize recommended vaccinations and represents a substantial challenge for public health.

The more the merrier? Two online experiments on how decoys can increase vaccine uptake.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals in some countries had the option to choose from different vaccines, some of which were perceived as less favorable than others. Research on the decoy effect suggests that the preference for an option (target) increases when an inferior option (decoy) is added to the choice set. However, it is unknown whether the decoy effect occurs in vaccination decision making.

Lessons from COVID-19 for behavioural and communication interventions to enhance vaccine uptake.

The Covid pandemic has yielded new insights into psychological vaccine acceptance factors. This knowledge serves as a basis for behavioral and communication interventions that can increase vaccination readiness for other diseases.

Using smartphones to study vaccination decisions in the wild.

One of the most important tools available to limit the spread and impact of infectious diseases is vaccination. It is therefore important to understand what factors determine people's vaccination decisions. To this end, previous behavioural research made use of, (i) controlled but often abstract or hypothetical studies (e.

Vaccination decision-making among mothers of children 0-12 months old in Nigeria: A qualitative study.

The contribution of vaccination to global health, especially in low-middle-income countries is one of the achievements in global governance of modern medicine, averting 2-3 million child deaths annually. However, in Nigeria, vaccine-preventable-diseases still account for one-in-eight child deaths before their fifth-year birthday. Nigeria is one of the ten countries where 4.

Toolbox of individual-level interventions against online misinformation.

The spread of misinformation through media and social networks threatens many aspects of society, including public health and the state of democracies. One approach to mitigating the effect of misinformation focuses on individual-level interventions, equipping policymakers and the public with essential tools to curb the spread and influence of falsehoods. Here we introduce a toolbox of individual-level interventions for reducing harm from online misinformation.

Exploring pre-pandemic patterns of vaccine decision-making with the 5C model: results from representative surveys in 2016 and 2018.

Background: The 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination (Confidence, Complacency, Constraints, Calculation, and Collective Responsibility) facilitate understanding vaccination decisions in specific target groups as well as the general public's informational needs. This study aims to explain pre-pandemic vaccination behaviour (a) in general, (b) for specific vaccines such as influenza, and (c) for certain target groups (e.g.

Communicating diagnostic uncertainty reduces expectations of receiving antibiotics: Two online experiments with hypothetical patients.

The overprescription of antibiotics due to diagnostic uncertainty and inappropriate patient expectations influence antimicrobial resistance. This research assesses (i) whether communicating diagnostic uncertainty reduces expectations of receiving antibiotics and (ii) which communication strategies minimise unintended consequences of such communication. In two experimental online studies conducted in January and April 2023, participants read a vignette describing a doctor consultation for an ear infection and expressed their expectations of receiving antibiotics, trust in their doctor, rated the doctor's reputation and provided their intention to get a second doctor's opinion.

Infographics on risks associated with COVID-19 and the willingness to get the AstraZeneca vaccine: two randomized online experiments.

Background: Germans hesitated to get vaccinated with AstraZeneca in the COVID-19 pandemic after reports of blood clots.

Methods: In two preregistered online experiments with stratified randomization (Study 1 N = 824, Study 2: N = 1,056), we tested whether providing evidence-based benefit-risk information reduces the perceived risk of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the perceived probability of blood clots due to the AstraZeneca vaccine and increases the vaccination intention. In Study 1, participants saw no infographic (control) or one of two infographics (low vs.

Vicarious experiences of long COVID: A protection motivation theory analysis for vaccination intentions.

Context: Long COVID can appear as a severe late consequence (sequela) of a COVID-19 infection, leading to the inability to work or participate in social life for an unknown amount of time. To see friends or family struggling with long COVID might influence people's risk perceptions, vaccine efficacy expectations, and self-efficacy perceptions to prevent COVID-19 and its consequences.

Methods: In an online survey in August 2022, n = 989 German-speaking participants indicated whether they knew someone who suffered from long COVID illness.

Climate change and public health in Germany - A synthesis of options for action from the German status report on climate change and health 2023.

Background: This article represents the conclusion of the updated German status report on climate change and health, which was jointly written by authors from over 30 national institutions and organisations. The objectives are (a) to synthesise the options for action formulated in the report, (b) to combine them into clusters and guiding principles, (c) to address the success factors for implementation, and (d) to combine the options for action into target parameters.

Methods: The options for action from the individual contributions of the status report were systematically recorded and categorised (n=236).

Communicating climate change and health to specific target groups.

Background: The German status report on climate change and health 2023 identifies numerous health risks that are caused or exacerbated by climate change. One recommendation arising from the report is to strengthen education, information, and communication in the field. This article aims to serve as a basis for this.

Historical narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic are motivationally biased.

How people recall the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is likely to prove crucial in future societal debates on pandemic preparedness and appropriate political action. Beyond simple forgetting, previous research suggests that recall may be distorted by strong motivations and anchoring perceptions on the current situation. Here, using 4 studies across 11 countries (total n = 10,776), we show that recall of perceived risk, trust in institutions and protective behaviours depended strongly on current evaluations.

Understanding and reducing inappropriate antibiotic use in the context of delayed prescriptions.

Objective: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat perpetuated by the overprescribing of antibiotics in primary care. One strategy to reduce antibiotic use in this setting is delayed prescribing. However, several psychological factors might undermine its effectiveness.

The moderating role of trust in pandemic-relevant institutions on the relation between pandemic fatigue and vaccination intentions.

This research helps to clarify the relation between (PF) and vaccination intentions (VI). Theoretically, two patterns seem plausible. First, as with any other health protective measure, PF might reduce the motivation to get vaccinated.

Development and validation of the pandemic fatigue scale.

The existence and nature of pandemic fatigue-defined as a gradually emerging subjective state of weariness and exhaustion from, and a general demotivation towards, following recommended health-protective behaviors, including keeping oneself informed during a pandemic-has been debated. Herein, we introduce the Pandemic Fatigue Scale and show how pandemic fatigue evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, using data from one panel survey and two repeated cross-sectional surveys in Denmark and Germany (overall N = 34,582). We map the correlates of pandemic fatigue and show that pandemic fatigue is negatively related to people's self-reported adherence to recommended health-protective behaviors.

Healthcare professionals' attitudes to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination: Cross-sectional survey data from four European countries.

Mandatory vaccinations are widely debated since they restrict individuals' autonomy in their health decisions. As healthcare professionals (HCPs) are a common target group of vaccine mandates, and also form a link between vaccination policies and the public, understanding their attitudes toward vaccine mandates is important. The present study investigated physicians' attitudes to COVID-19 vaccine mandates in four European countries: Finland, France, Germany, and Portugal.

Endorsement of alternative medicine and vaccine hesitancy among physicians: A cross-sectional study in four European countries.

Vaccine hesitancy has become a threat to public health, especially as it is a phenomenon that has also been observed among healthcare professionals. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between endorsement of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and vaccination attitudes and behaviors among healthcare professionals, using a cross-sectional sample of physicians with vaccination responsibilities from four European countries: Germany, Finland, Portugal, and France (total  = 2,787). Our results suggest that, in all the participating countries, CAM endorsement is associated with lower frequency of vaccine recommendation, lower self-vaccination rates, and being more open to patients delaying vaccination, with these relationships being mediated by distrust in vaccines.