The IMPACT-C supplement award recently shared the results of their “town hall” style discussions with frontline nursing home staff in a journal article and podcast.

The findings were shared in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society on March 25th. The study included one hundred and ninety three staff from 50 facilities who participated in 26 meetings between December 30, 2020 and January 15, 2021. Most staff reported getting information about the vaccine from friends or social media. Concerns about how rapidly the vaccines were developed and side effects, including infertility or pregnancy related concerns, were frequently raised. There were no differences in concerns raised by discipline. Questions about returning to prior activities after being vaccinated were common and offered the opportunity to build on positive emotions to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

IMPACT-C study team members Sarah Berry, Kimberly Johnson, and David Gifford also discussed the research on the March 25th GeriPal Podcast.  The podcast discussion was around the devastating impact of COVID on nursing homes and the effects and update rates of vaccine among patients and staff in nursing home.

Click here to read the full journal article.

Click here to listen to the podcast.