Text-based 'nudges' might improve vaccination rates

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-04-30 10:30

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Texting people to remind them that they have a flu vaccine scheduled around the corner may help get more people to follow through on their appointments. Researchers studied 19 different kinds of text “nudges” sent to a group of more than 47,000 Americans. The text “Flu shot reserved for you” sent twice before an appointment performed the best, increasing vaccination rates by an estimated 11 per cent. The researchers say this script could be used as a template for other vaccination campaigns, such as for COVID-19.

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Research PNAS, Web page

Journal/
conference: PNAS

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Pennsylvania, USA

Funder: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award P30AG034532, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Flu Lab, and the Penn Center for Precision Medicine Accelerator Fund. Support for this research was also provided in part by the AKO Foundation, John Alexander, Mark J. Leder, and Warren G. Lichtenstein.

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