Empowering health workers to manage vaccine hesitancy: Evaluation of an educational intervention

Introduction

Addressing vaccine hesitancy is a global health priority. This study evaluates a brief educational intervention designed to enhance health professionals’ communication skills and self-confidence in managing hesitancy to strengthen public trust in vaccines.

Methods

This pre-post intervention study involved health visitors attending workshops in two different cities in Greece during winter 2026. Baseline data were collected using the ATAVAC scale and self-confidence measures for managing vaccine hesitancy. A 2.5 hour educational intervention followed. It addressed the vaccine hesitancy spectrum, Greek-specific drivers, and provider recommendation impact, specifically training participants in the WHO communication model based on the principles of Motivational Interviewing. Matched post-intervention questionnaires then evaluated changes in self-confidence and perceived intervention utility. This study was conducted within the “Vaccination Promotion Academy” framework, organized by the Panhellenic Association of Health Visitors.

Results

Analysis of 56 completed questionnaires (86.2% response rate) showed a statistically significant increase in self-confidence was observed after the intervention across all three measured parameters: recommending vaccination to adults (9.1 vs 8.2, p < 0.001), motivating hesitant individuals (8.9 vs 8.1, p < 0.001), and managing conflicts with vaccine refusers (8.7 vs 8.2, p = 0.035). These improvements were significantly higher among early-career professionals, those without postgraduate education, and staff in secondary care settings.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that even brief interventions can effectively bolster healthcare professionals’ confidence in addressing vaccine refusal and hesitancy. While results were positive, the variations based on experience and workplace suggest that future training should be tailored to specific professional profiles to maximize its impact on public health.

Key messages

• Brief educational interventions on communication skills can significantly boost health professionals’ confidence in managing vaccine hesitancy.

• To optimize impact, vaccine communication training must be tailored to professional profiles and workplace settings to effectively strengthen trust in adult vaccination.