Interprofessional simulation to prepare students to address medical misinformation and vaccine hesitancy

Abstract

Medical misinformation, which contributes to vaccine hesitancy, is widespread and promulgated by the internet and social networks. Patients trust health professionals, and the healthcare community is therefore well positioned to address misinformation and to advocate for vaccination. Health professions students may lack the knowledge and/or confidence to communicate with vaccine-hesitant individuals whose position is based on misinformation. We sought to develop, implement, and assess an interprofessional educational program aimed at preparing health professions students to address medical misinformation and vaccine hesitancy. Our program was competency-based, interprofessional and employed a hybrid instructional design that included asynchronous online modules, virtual simulation, and in-person simulation. A pre/post-survey and 10-question pre/post-quiz were administered to assess achievement of the learning outcomes and impact of the program. Fifty-one students participated in the program, including students from medicine (n = 12), nursing (n = 12), pharmacy (n = 13), and public health (n = 14). Following participation, 98% and 96% of students indicated that their ability to address medical misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, respectively, was better than it was before completing the program. Mean self-assessed abilities increased from a mean of 2.7/5 (fair-to-good) before the program to a mean of 4/5 (very good) following participation. The proportion of students who rated their ability to respond to a vaccine-hesitant individual as being “very good” or “excellent” increased from 6% before to 73% following the program. Participant knowledge, as based on the pre/post-quiz, increased from 44% before to 60% after the program. Our program resulted in improvement in student self-efficacy in addressing medical misinformation and vaccine hesitancy. Students felt this program was impactful and provided them with translatable skills to their clinical experience.