Let’s Talk About Vaccines!
This study seeks to amplify the voices of caregivers and health workers and uncover new insights by using principles of community-based participatory research and human-centered design to increase childhood immunization.
Carlota’s Mission: Bringing Vaccines Closer to Every Child in Rural Mozambique
For years, the remote community of Nawitela-Namuli in Mozambique’s Zambézia Province faced a difficult choice: walk long distances with young children to the nearest health facility or risk missing routine vaccinations that protect against preventable diseases.
Carlota's Mission: Bringing Vaccines Closer to Every Child in Rural Mozambique
For years, the remote community of Nawitela-Namuli in Mozambique’s Zambézia Province faced a difficult choice: walk long distances with young children to the nearest health facility or risk missing routine vaccinations that protect against preventable diseases. Carlota, a community health worker serving Nawitela-Namuli in Gurué District, refused to accept...
New Film “Protecting Every Child: Bridging the 9-Month Immunization Gap”
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more than 2 million children miss essential vaccines at 9 months of age, leaving them vulnerable to measles, rubella and yellow fever. This gap at the late infancy touchpoint is part of a broader global challenge: measles,...
Malawi Sees Immunization Increase Thanks to Community Engagement, New Report Reveals
A new evaluation report has spotlighted the success of the Let’s Talk About Vaccines! project to improve under-two immunization coverage in Lilongwe and Mzimba North, Malawi. The three-year initiative, funded by Wellcome and implemented by VillageReach in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Health...
Talking about Vaccines: How Communities in Mozambique are Boosting Child Immunization
In the quiet village of Mudine, Mozambique, Jolita, a 27-year-old mother of two, knows the challenges of raising healthy children all too well. When her 2½-year-old son, Alceu, needed his vaccinations, she struggled to keep track of his schedule without a health card. That...
New Technical Paper on Participatory Immunization Research Aims to Empower Communities
VillageReach and the Sabin Vaccine Institute have released a new technical paper to help organizations plan and prepare for participatory research and design within global immunization health initiatives. The paper highlights the value of participatory approaches and offers insights into the key principles and...
Community Collaboration and Co-Creation with Bate-Papo Vacina! - An Interview with Gaspar Come
A community comprises many parts—community leaders, community health workers, caregivers, and more. To truly address the needs and concerns of the hardest-to-reach people and communities, their voices must be heard. The Bate-Papo Vacina! Project (Let’s Talk About Vaccines) did just that, bringing radical collaboration...
Bate-Papo Vacina! Pilot Project in Mozambique Exceeds Targets and Shows Promise for Long-Term Sustainability
We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the pilot phase of the Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk About Vaccines!) Project in Zambezia Province, Mozambique. This five-year initiative, funded by Wellcome, focuses on understanding and addressing barriers to full vaccination coverage for children under...
VillageReach Board Members Meet and Learn in the Warm Heart of Africa
This May I embarked, with fellow VillageReach board members, on a long-awaited journey to Malawi, and what a beautiful country it is. It’s no wonder Malawi is known as “The Warm Heart of Africa.” Although it had been eight years since I last visited...
Creative Catalysts: Enhancing Vaccination Rates in Malawi
Originally published in the VillageReach 2023 Annual Impact Report, “Running the Race, Together.” In Malawi, a blend of drama and talking books (1) is driving change in vaccination rates among children. Through the Let’s Talk About Vaccines! project, a collaboration between the Malawi Ministry...
Community-first approach to vaccination saves lives
Originally posted on The Seattle Times. Improving routine vaccination for every child, no matter where they live, is one of the world’s most pressing health challenges. Big challenges demand bold solutions – and sometimes the most effective solutions are found by understanding diverse perspectives...
Community-Led Approach to Immunization Shows Promise in Rural Mozambique
A midline evaluation from the University of Western Cape and the University of Cape Town has found that a community-led approach to immunization piloted by VillageReach in rural Mozambique is promising to improve key immunization outcomes. The Let’s Talk About Vaccines program, also known...
Health Workers Celebrate Community Involvement in Mozambique Immunization Initiative
Fernanda Mussa, a health professional in Namorroi, Zambézia, was frustrated by the lack of community involvement in how immunization services were provided, feeling like more could be done to reach caregivers with live-saving vaccines. But now, that has changed. The Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk...
Co-Creating with Under-Reached Communities to Improve Routine Immunization Outcomes in Mozambique
What would it look like if communities were involved in designing and implementing the health care solutions they need to thrive? Bate-Papo Vacina! (Let’s Talk About Vaccines) aims to find out. We know that developing top-down solutions is not enough. When communities are involved...Background
The Let’s Talk About Vaccines! study is a five-year research project (2021-2026) aimed at understanding the barriers caregivers face in fully vaccinating their children. It seeks to identify, implement and evaluate community-driven solutions to reduce routine immunization dropouts in select districts in Mozambique and Malawi. These study sites were selected due to key similarities and differences in their geography, epidemiological profiles and immunization systems. There are currently few studies that compare these contexts for immunization dropouts between countries.
Because caregivers and health workers know best what barriers they face and how to address them, we seek to amplify their voices. Our research design uses the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and human-centered design (HCD) to engage community members and health workers in generating new knowledge and co-creating targeted solutions that meet their needs.
How It Works
The Let’s Talk About Vaccines! Study has three iterative phases: Phase 1- Identify key themes across study sites in both countries to pinpoint common barriers and solutions that address routine immunization dropout across different contexts; Phase 2- Implement unique community-identified solutions in each country to reach under-immunized children; Phase 3- Evaluate the solutions’ impact through a process and outcome evaluation led by the University of Western Cape (UWC) in collaboration with the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Resources
Identifying context- specific drivers of routine childhood immunisation dropout in Mozambique and Malawi: a secondary thematic analysis of qualitative community- based participatory research data
A perspective on essential components for adaptability and scalability to enhance equity-driven vaccination interventions: lessons from Mozambique and Malawi
Endline Evaluation of the ‘Let’s Talk About Vaccines!’ Project in Malawi
Enhancing childhood immunization coverage in Mozambique and Malawi
Co-Creating Health Solutions – Participatory Research and Human-Centered Design for Immunization Programs
Gender Analysis – Late Infancy Immunization Study
Bate-Papo Vacina! Endline Evaluation Report
Using community-based, participatory qualitative research to identify determinants of routine vaccination drop-out in Malawi
Evaluation of a multisite community-based participatory immunization project
Bate-Papo Vacina Project: Midline Evaluation
Let’s Talk About Vaccines – Key Findings From Malawi
Driving a people-centered approach to expand immunization coverage in Zambézia, Mozambique
Bate-Papo Vacina!
Let’s Talk About Vaccines Study Overview
Determinants of immunisation dropout among children under the age of 2 in Zambézia province, Mozambique
Partners
Technical Partners
- University of Western Cape
- University of Cape Town
Donors
- Wellcome Trust
Related Global Impact
See the latest updates from our work to improve access to quality healthcare in the world’s most underserved communities.