Chatbot-based Intervention to Promote Vaccine Acceptance in Varansi, India

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Vaccine Hesitancy

Treatments: Behavioral: Happy Baby Programme- Vaccine ++ Campaign; Behavioral: Happy Baby Programme -Vaccine Campaign

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05994820

IRB00023512

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn compare the efficacy Chatbot messaging directed to parents of infants and children living in unstable urban housing (UUH) in Varansi, India. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1) Can a Chatbot intervention be used to improve attitudes towards childhood vaccines? 2) Does an intervention in which vaccination is presented in the larger context of well-being improve attitudes towards vaccination?

Full description

Only 2/3 of Indian infants and children are fully immunized. In communities facing unstable urban housing (UUH) vaccination rates are even lower. COVID-19 introduced new challenges for community health workers in these areas, and many do not have the capacity to promote vaccination. At the same time, the pandemic also prompted more parents and caregivers to engage with smartphones to manage the child's health. The investigators believe that a WhatsApp-based Chatbot intervention may be an effective way to promote routine childhood vaccination among caregivers without creating additional burdens on community health workers. To test this, the investigators are developing the Happy Baby Programme. This programme will be disseminated as a Chatbot through WhatsApp to parents of infants and young children living in Varanasi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In addition to testing the overall efficacy of a Chatbot messaging platform, the investigators will compare two different Chatbot messaging designs, one featuring vaccine-only messaging and a second that positions vaccines as part of a broader set of well-being practices.

Enrollment: 2,058 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Speak Hindi;
• Reside in selected UUH neighborhood of Varanasi, India;
• Identify as a caregiver of a young child (<2) OR be at least 5 months pregnant and due to giver birth during the study period;
• Child is registered with local community health workers and included on patient rosters for vaccination clinics (also known as Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs));
• Have regular access to a phone with WhatsApp.

Exclusion criteria

• Only one caregiver is eligible per household
• Not meeting inclusion criteria.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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2,058 participants in 3 patient groups

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

These participants receive no intervention. No chatbot messaging. Usual care.

Vaccine Campaign

Experimental group

Description:

These participants will receive the Happy Baby Programme messages through a WhatsApp Chatbot. All messages will be narrowly focused on vaccine promotion.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Happy Baby Programme -Vaccine Campaign

Vaccine++ Campaign

Experimental group

Description:

These participants will receive the Happy Baby Programme messages through a WhatsApp Chatbot. All messages will promote vaccines in conjunction with other health-promotion activities (e.g. nutrition, breastfeeding, etc.).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Happy Baby Programme- Vaccine ++ Campaign