The investigators conducted a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to test whether a low-cost planning intervention could increase influence vaccination rates.
Seasonal influenza causes 20,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Past psychology research has demonstrated that prompting people to form an implementation plan of the form, "When situation x arises, I will implement response y," increases attainment of desired goals because the desired behavior is linked to a concrete future moment. This type of planning prompt is a "nudge" in the direction of desired behavior that can be implemented at minimal expense and does not restrict individual autonomy. We conducted a 3-arm randomized controlled trial to test whether a low-cost planning intervention could increase influence vaccination rates. We show that planning prompts can be successfully applied to improve health behaviors.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
3,272
A prompt to write down a planned date (or date and time) for getting a flu shot
A basic reminder mailing prompted each subject to get their flu shot.
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Receipt of 2009 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination
Time frame: up to 30 weeks
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