Projects

Understanding Low Influenza Vaccination Rates Through Family Physician-Centered Interventions

In Germany, between four and 16 million people contract the flu each year. The flu is a respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. Older adults and people with chronic conditions are at particularly high risk of severe illness. For this reason, a seasonal flu vaccine in the fall is recommended for everyone aged 60 and older, as well as for people with chronic conditions. The vaccine is intended to prevent infections with the influenza virus and severe complications such as bacterial pneumonia, heart attacks, and possible deaths. However, during the flu season from early October 2023 to mid-May 2024, just under 40 percent of people over 60 in Germany were vaccinated against the flu. As a result, despite significant regional differences, the vaccination rate of 75 percent recommended by the World Health Organization was not achieved in any federal state or age group.

However, it is not only medical and personal reasons that can stand in the way of getting a flu shot. There are also hurdles on the part of primary care physicians when it comes to providing information about and administering flu shots. Against this backdrop, the NIMa project aims to identify GP-centered measures that can increase vaccination rates in Germany. The project will identify facilitating and hindering factors, barriers, and challenges related to providing information and administering vaccinations, as well as the reasons for non-vaccination. Following a comprehensive systematic literature review, general practitioners from the federal states with the lowest vaccination rates (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria) will be surveyed. Based on the results, appropriate measures will be identified and recommendations for increasing the vaccination rate will be developed. These will then be implemented in pilot practices and evaluated for their impact on the vaccination rate.

If successful, this will result in specific, primary-care-centered measures that can help increase the flu vaccination rate. This can, on the one hand, prevent severe cases of the disease and, on the other hand, reduce the healthcare costs associated with the flu. These findings can also be applied to other vaccination indications.

In the NIMa project, inav GmbH is serving as the consortium leader and is responsible for the evaluation.