IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v126y2022i10p970-979.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 vaccinations: An overview of the Italian national health system's online communication from a citizen perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Pirrotta, L.
  • Guidotti, E.
  • Tramontani, C.
  • Bignardelli, E.
  • Venturi, G.
  • De Rosis, S.

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is still widespread. During the pandemic, the internet has been the preferred channel for health-related information, especially for less-educated citizens who tend to be the most hesitant about vaccination. A well-structured web communication strategy could help both to overcome vaccine hesitancy and to ensure equity in healthcare service access. This study investigated how the various regional and local health authorities in Italy used their institutional websites to inform users about COVID-19 vaccinations between March and April 2021. We browsed 129 institutional websites, checking the availability, quality and quantity, actionability and readability of information using a literature-based common grid. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests were performed. The online public dissemination of COVID-19 vaccination information in Italy was fragmented, both across and within regions. The side effects of vaccinations, were often not reported on the websites, thus missing an opportunity to enhance vaccination uptake. More focus should also be placed on readability, since readability indexes showed that they were difficult to understand. Our research revealed that several actions could be implemented to enhance online communication on COVID-19 vaccination. For instance, simplifying texts can make them more understandable and the information reported actionable.

Suggested Citation

  • Pirrotta, L. & Guidotti, E. & Tramontani, C. & Bignardelli, E. & Venturi, G. & De Rosis, S., 2022. "COVID-19 vaccinations: An overview of the Italian national health system's online communication from a citizen perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(10), pages 970-979.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:126:y:2022:i:10:p:970-979
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.08.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851022002184
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.08.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Rosis, Sabina & Lopreite, Milena & Puliga, Michelangelo & Vainieri, Milena, 2021. "The early weeks of the Italian Covid-19 outbreak: sentiment insights from a Twitter analysis," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(8), pages 987-994.
    2. repec:cup:hecopl:v:14:y:2019:i:02:p:135-140_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. De Rosis, Sabina & Guidotti, Elisa & Zuccarino, Sara & Venturi, Giulia & Ferré, Francesca, 2020. "Waiting time information in the Italian NHS: A citizen perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(8), pages 796-804.
    4. Alice Borghini & Ilaria Corazza & Sabina Nuti, 2021. "Learning from Excellence to Improve Healthcare Services: The Experience of the Maternal and Child Care Pathway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-10, February.
    5. Leonard L. Berry, 2019. "Service innovation is urgent in healthcare," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 78-92, June.
    6. Thiede, Michael, 2005. "Information and access to health care: is there a role for trust?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 1452-1462, October.
    7. Mesch, Gustavo & Mano, Rita & Tsamir, Judith, 2012. "Minority status and health information search: A test of the social diversification hypothesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 854-858.
    8. Tediosi, Fabrizio & Gabriele, Stefania & Longo, Francesco, 2009. "Governing decentralization in health care under tough budget constraint: What can we learn from the Italian experience?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(2-3), pages 303-312, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Federico Revelli, 2012. "Business taxation and economic performance in hierarchical government structures," Working Papers 2012/12, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    2. Girardi, Alessandro & Ventura, Marco, 2023. "The cost of waiting and the death toll in Italy during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Mark Kattenberg & Wouter Vermeulen, 2016. "The Stimulative Effect of an Unconditional Block Grant on the Decentralized Provision of Care," SERC Discussion Papers 0209, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Paolo Mancuso & Vivian Grace Valdmanis, 2016. "Care Appropriateness and Health Productivity Evolution: A Non-Parametric Analysis of the Italian Regional Health Systems," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 595-607, October.
    5. Raffaele Lagravinese & Paolo Liberati & Giuliano Resce, 2017. "Exploring health outcomes by stochastic multi-objective acceptability analysis: an application to Italian regions," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 1703, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    6. Lia Patrício & Jorge Grenha Teixeira & Josina Vink, 2019. "A service design approach to healthcare innovation: from decision-making to sense-making and institutional change," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 115-120, June.
    7. Revelli Federico, 2012. "Business taxation and economic performance in hierarchical government structures," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201204, University of Turin.
    8. Kokshagina, Dr Olga, 2021. "Managing shifts to value-based healthcare and value digitalization as a multi-level dynamic capability development process," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    9. Di Novi, Cinzia & Piacenza, Massimiliano & Robone, Silvana & Turati, Gilberto, 2019. "Does fiscal decentralization affect regional disparities in health? Quasi-experimental evidence from Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Papadopoulos, Nicolas & Cleveland, Mark, 2023. "An international and cross-cultural perspective on ‘the wired consumer’: The digital divide and device difference dilemmas," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Berta, P. & Bratti, M. & Fiorio, C.V. & Pisoni, E. & Verzillo, S., 2021. "Administrative border effects in Covid-19 related mortality," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/21, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    12. Vainieri, Milena & Vola, Federico & Gomez Soriano, Gregorio & Nuti, Sabina, 2016. "How to set challenging goals and conduct fair evaluation in regional public health systems. Insights from Valencia and Tuscany Regions," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(11), pages 1270-1278.
    13. Sargiacomo, Massimo, 2015. "Earthquakes, exceptional government and extraordinary accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 67-89.
    14. Martin Mende, 2019. "The innovation imperative in healthcare: an interview and commentary," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 121-131, June.
    15. Mauro, Marianna & Maresso, Anna & Guglielmo, Annamaria, 2017. "Health decentralization at a dead-end: towards new recovery plans for Italian hospitals," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 74066, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Fazio, Andrea & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "The political cost of sanctions: Evidence from COVID-19," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(9), pages 872-878.
    17. Athias, Laure & Macina, Moudo, 2022. "Demand for vaccination in Sub-Saharan Africa: The vertical legacy of the slave trade," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    18. De Rosis, Sabina & Guidotti, Elisa & Zuccarino, Sara & Venturi, Giulia & Ferré, Francesca, 2020. "Waiting time information in the Italian NHS: A citizen perspective," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(8), pages 796-804.
    19. Ahmed, Syed Masud & Petzold, Max & Kabir, Zarina Nahar & Tomson, Göran, 2006. "Targeted intervention for the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh: Does it make any difference in their health-seeking behaviour?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2899-2911, December.
    20. Paiola, Marco & Khvatova, Tatiana & Schiavone, Francesco & Ferraris, Alberto, 2023. "How do omnichannel strategies contribute to value-based healthcare? An orchestra-based analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:126:y:2022:i:10:p:970-979. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.