In partnership with local people and health professionals, Joe Tucker, MD, PhD, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases with UNC Global Health colleagues developed a pay-it-forward intervention to promote influenza vaccination among at-risk individuals during COVID-19.
“You are an overworked health professional in an under-developed rural town within a low/middle-income country. Many of the patients in your community health clinic are illiterate, some have disability, and all of them are concerned about COVID-19. Will this resource-constrained pandemic context fuel cynicism, burnout, and callousness among patients and providers? Our research study found the opposite, underlining enduring generosity in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
“In partnership with local people and health professionals, we developed a pay-it-forward intervention to promote influenza vaccination among at-risk individuals during COVID-19. Pay-it-forward has an individual receive a gift (e.g., an influenza vaccination or community-engaged message) from a local person and then be asked about supporting subsequent individuals.”
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