The power of partnerships: training community champions to have effective vaccine conversations

The role of our community champions in Newcastle is to share public health messages and guidance through their networks, whether that be friends, family and neighbours, or community groups and colleagues. The content of the training was excellent, with expert immunologists talking us through vaccinations and immunology in a straightforward way, and providing useful resources that we can share widely in our communities. The Q&A sessions were particularly useful as participants were able to bring up questions they have encountered in their communities and get simple answers that they can then feed back, such as understanding how the vaccine was developed so quickly. We’ve seen some fantastic work by our champions following the training and many have reported that they are using their new knowledge to have effective conversations about vaccines. Several participants support community groups and have been having open conversations with those who may be hesitant about having vaccinations. We have also seen an increase in champions coming forward to take part in community events and share their learning, answering questions about how vaccines work and how we know they are safe. The whole experience has been an absolute pleasure. The BSI remained in regular contact throughout, providing information on session content and follow-up evaluation. This has been a really positive experience and I’d encourage local authorities to pursue this opportunity to complement their COVID-19 vaccine and childhood immunisation programmes.

Hannah Morrow, Community Champions Coordinator, Newcastle City Council

Over the last year we have been working with local residents in Birmingham (COVID community champions) who take up the vital role of providing valuable insights into communities to help us protect the public from COVID-19. Many used their personal and professional networks to send information where we have traditionally struggled to reach. Much of their work was to be a trusted voice where misinformation could be challenged and provide support where needed. When I saw the British Society for Immunology was running training on vaccination for people with no prior health experience, I jumped at the opportunity to provide something like this to our residents. We spent four weeks chatting about all things immunology including conversations around COVID-19 vaccines, the HPV vaccine, flu vaccine, and the importance of vaccinations in children. One thing that was important to us at Birmingham was ensuring that participants felt confident in tackling difficult vaccination conversations; speakers at the online sessions took this into consideration and supported participants to tackle the trickier issues and questions that may come up about vaccination. The participants shared that the sessions were ‘informative and useful’, with information being driven by evidence and helped to ‘build confidence in having discussion surrounding vaccination’. We hope that the champions programme creates a legacy for the relationship between Birmingham City Council and its residents, particularly communities who are underserved. Communities are ready for a different type of conversation about their health and wellbeing, as proven through the interactive training with the BSI.

Shona Okeke, Senior Engagement Office, Birmingham City Council

I joined the training programme with the hope of building a solid foundation of knowledge about vaccines, to assist me in producing materials for a Birmingham-based community outreach campaign. Not only was I interested in strengthening my technical knowledge of how vaccines work, but I also hoped to gain an understanding of key concerns, apprehensions and public opinion on vaccines more generally. It was a relief to be in contact with scientists that have such extensive knowledge of the field and expertise in particular areas, given that the subject was largely new to me. The diversity of speakers from a range of areas provided an excellent overview of the world of vaccines, and the engagement provided a rare opportunity to gain insights that you wouldn’t normally get. Outlining common questions and concerns and discussing how to respond to them was extremely useful, as well as the tips on how to tackle misinformation. I feel much more confident having effective conversations around vaccines because the sessions have developed my understanding about different vaccines and the diseases they protect against. They gave such an excellent broad overview, with just the right amount of detail, and also informed me about how people may respond and how to approach people in different ways depending on the circumstances, their views and background. I have used the information shared during the sessions in the production of training materials for outreach workers, guidance for religious leaders, and adverts on childhood and adult vaccines which have been played on local radio stations across Birmingham and on social media.

David Ball, training participant in Birmingham