Our research project ‘What does vaccination mean to people aged 55+?’ has been live since July 2021. We have already held a number of online focus groups and will be continuing with this work until Summer 2022.
Our research looks at the reasons why older adults in the UK choose to be vaccinated or not. This relates particularly to vaccination offered by the NHS to people aged 65 and over, which includes the influenza (flu) vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine, shingles vaccine and now also the COVID-19 vaccine.
We hope to understand the many reasons behind older adults’ vaccination decisions to improve the current vaccination programme for those who want to access it. It’s also really important to us that we hear from those who choose not to get vaccinated, either some or all of the time. More broadly, we hope to contribute to keeping older people fit and well.
We are conducting online focus groups to investigate why older adults choose to be vaccinated or not. The discussion groups take place online using Zoom video calling.
If you are aged 55 and over, and live in one of the study areas in the UK we would like to hear from you. The research will include the following local authority areas:
- Bedford, East of England
- Birmingham, West Midlands
- Bradford, Yorkshire & Humber
- Manchester, North West
- Newham, London
- Wellingborough, East Midlands
- Wycombe, South East
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Perth & Kinross, Scotland
- Pembrokeshire, Wales
- two locations in Northern Ireland to be confirmed
We have already held focus groups in:
- Tewkesbury, South West
- Cardiff, Wales
- Newcastle upon Tyne, North East
See the project website for further information: https://www.hprubse.nihr.ac.uk/research/research-topics/immunisation-and-vaccination/what-does-vaccination-mean-to-people-aged-55/
If you would like to take part in the research, you can express your interest by filling in this questionnaire
Research timeline
- August–December 2021 & January – April 2022: Participants sought for online focus groups
- October–December 2021 & January – April 2022: Focus groups take place online
- January–July 2022: Sharing research findings with the public, the research community and policy-makers.
This research project is funded by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation at University of Bristol as part of a portfolio of five research projects led by Hannah Christensen.
