Health professionals all over the world are focused on communication about the COVID vaccines.
As nice as it would be to have a one-size-fits-all way to communicate about the vaccine, to everybody, that would work 100% of the time, we know that’s not realistic.
Adding to the complexity, there’s also a strong emotional climate around vaccine communication.
Health and public health professionals who talk and write about vaccines and vaccination have research-based knowledge — as well as strong feelings –about vaccines and their use.
Add to this the human, economic, and emotional toll the pandemic has taken. And the volatile social climate. And the urgent need for people to act in ways that help slow and prevent the spread of COVID. It’s an enormously complex and emotionally-charged communication scenario. For clinicians, public health professionals, digital health pros, and more.
This is where reflective practice may be especially helpful. It invites us to step back, and get some emotional distance, from what we’re doing.
In a recent podcast episode, I suggested that reflecting on vaccine communication is particularly important. Why? You’re aware that COVID-19 disproportionately impacts marginalized populations. You’re also aware of the well-documented links between health disparities and systemic and individual bias within the health sector.
One way biases can pass nearly unnoticed is through a deficit perspective. Deficit perspectives are subtle, and fairly common.
You might think of a deficit perspective as the tendency to maintain a focus on negative instances, examples, or qualities. Like seeing patients as passive recipients. Or centering on what a patient doesn’t understand, or doesn’t do; what a patient’s situation lacks; what is seems his or her community can’t provide. Or focusing on negative results, effects, examples, depictions, or instances.
It’s no secret that negative depictions of people’s attitudes get much of the press and social media around vaccines and vaccination (thanks to Tara Haelle [@TaraHaelle] for this article).
Vaccine communication can be as prone to deficit perspectives as any communication. Perhaps even moreso.
So I’m offering you 4 prompts for reflective practice–and some hints!–in the form of an infographic. It’s quick to read and perfect for sharing. These prompts invite you to think about what’s beneath the hood of your communication about vaccines – COVID-19’s vaccines, and any others. Click here to download.
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