Using the Journey to Health and Immunization (JTHI) Framework to Engage Stakeholders in Identifying Behavioral and Social Drivers of Routine Immunization in Nepal

Although the Government of Nepal has achieved high and sustained childhood vaccination coverage, reaching under-immunized and zero-dose children requires different approaches. Behavioral science offers promise in better understanding the drivers of vaccination and development of more effective progr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vaccines (Basel) 2023-11, Vol.11 (11), p.1709
Main Authors: Castle, Nicole, Kunwar, Surakshya, Khanal, Leela, Oot, Lisa, Elkes, Katharine, Shrestha, Swechhya, Joshi, Anjali, Rai, Prasanna, Bhattarai, Sanju, Karmacharya, Biraj Man
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile drivers
Behavior
behavioral science
Behavioral sciences
Caregivers
Children
Consent
COVID-19 vaccines
Females
Health behavior
Health promotion
Immunization
Intervention
Low income groups
Medical research
Medical science
Medicine, Experimental
Meetings
Methods
Nepal
Participation
Psychological aspects
Social sciences
stakeholder engagement
Stakeholders
Vaccination
vaccine acceptance
Vaccines
Workers
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Summary:Although the Government of Nepal has achieved high and sustained childhood vaccination coverage, reaching under-immunized and zero-dose children requires different approaches. Behavioral science offers promise in better understanding the drivers of vaccination and development of more effective programs; however, the application of behavioral science to immunization programs in Nepal is nascent. Through the Behavioral Science Immunization Network, JSI, UNICEF Nepal, and Dhulikhel Hospital-Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences established a Behavioral Science Center to engage a diverse group of stakeholders in increasing the capacity of practitioners to use behavioral science in immunization programming. As a result of the engagement during formative research, government stakeholders requested and applied tools from behavioral science to solve different immunization challenges. Of particular value was the use of the Journey to Health and Immunization framework, which helped stakeholders identify behavioral and social drivers of zero-dose communities in Kathmandu. Our experience in Nepal demonstrates that there is strong demand for approaches and tools from behavioral science to use in relation to immunization and that this type of engagement model is effective for generating demand for and strengthening capacity to use behavioral science approaches.
ISSN:2076-393X
2076-393X
DOI:10.3390/vaccines11111709