Kia ora from Jess and Jordan,
I (Jess) got my second COVID vaccination this week, another two weeks and I will be very relieved to be able to say I have immunity to the worst of COVID-19. It felt a very empowering thing to do in the face of a lot of concerns I have about Delta. Emma, the nurse who talked me through it, was brilliant. I have anaphylaxis to some medications, and she really took time and care to make sure I was well looked after.
As a really powerful (but not the only!) tool to help us keep COVID-19 out, lots of us are talking about vaccination. From the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, to Elmo from Sesame Street reiterating the importance of getting vaccinated, 2020 and 2021 have seen a wide variety of communication campaigns and strategies about COVID-19. Showing there are fantastic stories to tell when we have a great narrative strategy in place.
Our recent publication How to talk about COVID-19 vaccinations: Building trust in vaccination, provides evidence-based communications techniques and tools for those people and organisations telling stories about the importance of getting vaccinated. The purpose of this guide is to help understand the foundations that underpin vaccine hesitancy and build our narrative strategies in response. Describing eight techniques and tools that effectively address vaccine hesitancy, while showing techniques already in use. We also provide tools and templates to help you use these findings. Including posters to print out explaining how immunity works to protect us all.
This month's newsletter showcases communications that build trust in the Covid-19 vaccine in a positive, creative way. We highlight some of our favourite effective communication campaigns that encourage vaccination in the ways the research suggests works.
P.S. Keep a lookout in your in-box because in the next week or so we will be releasing the latest in our COVID-19 communications suite of tools: How to talk to whānau and friends about vaccination. The conversation guide is designed specifically to help with those tricky one on one conversations we are all having.
Examples from the Narrative Movement
Giving Covid Its Final Curtain Call
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra encourages Australians to give us the performance of a lifetime and get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The extravagant two minute video leads with a vision of a brighter future, “Let's give Covid its final curtain call and go back to what we love most”.
They emphasise the importance of unity and collective action, “We need you to come together and get vaccinated as soon as you’re eligible, to give us the performance of a lifetime”.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra leads with collective benefits that the vaccination offers us, using values of responsibility and care getting back to the things we love. Collective responsibility is emphasised, “This isn't just about you as an individual soloist … It’s an ensemble effort”.
They do a great job at framing decision making in the context of collective benefit over individual choice. The video is visually engaging while encouraging vaccination through intrinsic values and collective action. Great mahi from The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, you can see the full video using this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDfug35d5fU
Elmo Encourages Vaccination
“That's why I got the Covid-19 vaccine, so me and my family and neighbors can get back to play-dates, trips, cookouts and sports”, says Father Louie, Elmo’s father. Sesame Street has led vaccine communication with intrinsic values of care and love; and to get back to the people we love.
Through our research on how to effectively communicate the Covid-19 vaccine, we have found that surfacing and engaging people’s intrinsic and collective values helps them to understand complex collective social problems and solutions. Sesame Street does a wonderful job of encouraging vaccination through values of care and love for one another.
https://twitter.com/sesamestreet/status/1430590900175056900
The Value in Hearing directly from Rangatahi Māori
Hāpai Te Hauora communicates the Covid-19 vaccination by sharing Rangatahi Māori voices and values of care, responsibility and empowerment.
In our guide How to talk about COVID-19 vaccinations: Building trust in vaccination, we emphasise the importance of amplifying experts who can speak to people’s personal experiences and concerns, including Māori, Pacific and disabled experts; or people most trusted by these communities.
Hāpai Te Hauora gives a personal voice to the Covid-19 vaccination, while communicating good information from someone trusted within the community. This communication campaign is effective at providing vital vaccination information to Rangatahi Māori while using intrinsic values that lead with a vision for a better future.
https://www.facebook.com/hapaitehauora/photos/a.203529373020349/4608648622508380/?type=3&theater
The Workshop in the Media
Emphasising Creative and Effective Vaccine Approaches
Vaccination provides the best protection to everyone when we have collective immunity. High levels of immunity in a population shield everyone from the worst of Covid-19. To achieve this, individual level benefits to get the vaccine should not be emphasised. Instead, framing the vaccine as a part of a collective effort to protect the community is important in encouraging more of our population to get vaccinated.
Co-Director Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw discusses this in her recent article with Newsroom titled Jess Berentson-Shaw: On ‘incentives’ and the vaccine hesitant. Jess mentions that when we use rewards and punishments to get hesitant people vaccinated, we send the message that the benefits of the vaccine are so weak, that people need an external motivator. This frames vaccination only in the context of individual-level gain and loss. Jess instead, highlights three main ways to encourage vaccination:
Through making vaccination easy and accessible to all communities, removing financial, social and physical barriers that stop people from accessing the vaccine.
Providing ‘social proof’, if people we trust get vaccinated, we are more likely to do the same.
Making vaccination the default, using an ‘opt-out’ not ‘opt-in’ approach. This works under the presumption that everyone has the positive intent to get vaccinated, limiting talk about choice and encouraging healthy vaccination behaviour.
You can read Jess’s full article here: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/jess-berentson-shaw-do-vaccine-incentives-help-hesitant-people
Notes from the Narrative Movement
Passing The Message Stick
We have been deeply inspired by the work done by many people, including some of our friends and collaborators in Australia, to produce advice on messages that are effective in building public support for First Nations self-determination and justice. This report, and the beautiful website that accompanies it, is the result of a two-year research project led by Dr Jackie Huggins AM, Larissa Baldwin and Karrina Nolan, supported by GetUp, Original Power and Australian Progress. Research on this project was undertaken by our colleagues at Common Cause Australia. Check out their website and report.
https://passingthemessagestick.org/
Latest from The Workshop
Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccinations: A Guide for Workplaces, 2021
Mapping the Landscape: How to Talk About Systems Change in Aotearoa, New Zealand, 2021
Talking about COVID-19 vaccination with whānau Māori, 2021
All Covid-19 publications from The Workshop
For more guidance on narratives around topics such as transport, climate change, justice reform, and more, visit our website - we have freely available message guides.
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Get in touch with Rachel@theworkshop.org.nz if you would like to talk to us about how we can help you with specific advice or do training for your team
Marianne, Jess, Sharon, Carolyn, Jordan, Rachel, Ellen and Nicky at The Workshop