In my HPEB 300 class, I was instructed to create a program proposal with a health initiative. I decided to focus on a topic that I was passionate about, vaccination. There is a negative stigma that surrounds vaccinations. Many people are misinformed or have grown to believe vaccinations are actually dangerous and can cause you to receive the illness they are supposed to be protecting you from. My goal is to remove this negative stigma and help inform others about vaccinations so they are able to make an educated decision on whether or not they want to get vaccinated through education sessions. Making a small change in a person’s lifestyle decisions, such as getting vaccinated, can impact them, their friends and family down the round. I hope by educating college students, they act as mentors and educate others in their life to help remove the stigma around vaccinations.
To help remove this stigma, I would like to implement an educational program across the University of South Carolina Columbia campus college campuses that would teach college students about influenza vaccinations and clear up any misconceptions. I plan to focus on positive reinforcement by rewarding recipients who attend vaccination education sessions. The rewards could come in the form of athletic points, gift cards, free food, and other prizes. By rewarding the students for attending the sessions and getting educated, it is encouraging their positive behavior with a reinforcing stimulus in the form of a prize.
To reach this step, a program committee would first need to be gathered. They would need to create an educational presentation for the college students. This would include reaching out to Student Health Services to gather data on the number of students that have received vaccination over the past three years. Additionally, research will be done to gather material for the education sessions. This will include presenting accurate facts about what goes into a vaccination and how the body reacts to a vaccine.
The program used for the education sessions will be based on the "WHACK the flu" initiative used in Missouri. This program was designed to prevent the spread of influenza by teaching children and teachers how to protect themselves with good hygiene habits. This will be adapted for a college campus and include clarification of common vaccination misconceptions.
For this program, undergraduates are the target population. Social media, athletic reward points and free food can all improve the reach of this program. Encouraging students to come to education sessions with free food and drinks as well as offering an athletic point for receiving the vaccination are all forms of positive reinforcement.
To track the attendance of the educational program, student IDs will be scanned when they attend the educational program and compared to the records of those who go and get vaccinated.
The number of vaccinated students will also be compared to an average number from the past 3 years of vaccinations on that same college campus. The program will be deemed successful if there is an increase in the overall number of college students at the university who receive the flu vaccination.