VaxInsight: an artificial intelligence system to access large-scale public perceptions of vaccination from social media

Vaccination is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. A high vaccination rate is required to reduce the prevalence and incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, in the last two decades, there has been a significant and increasing number of people who refuse or delay getting vaccinated and who prohibit their children from receiving vaccinations. Importantly, under-vaccination is associated with infectious disease outbreaks. A good understanding of public perceptions regarding vaccinations is important if we are to develop effective vaccination promotion strategies. Traditional methods of research, such as surveys, suffer limitations that impede our understanding of public perceptions, including resources cost, delays in data collection and analysis, especially in large samples. The popularity of social media (e.g. Twitter), combined with advances in artificial intelligence algorithms (e.g. natural language processing, deep learning), open up new avenues for accessing large scale data on public perceptions related to vaccinations. This dissertation reports on an original and systematic effort to develop artificial intelligence algorithms that will increase our ability to use Twitter discussions to understand vaccine-related perceptions and intentions. The research is framed within the perspectives offered by grounded behavior change theories. Tweets concerning the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine were used to accomplish three major aims: 1) Develop a deep learning-based system to better understand public perceptions of the HPV vaccine, using Twitter data and behavior change theories; 2) Develop a deep learning-based system to infer Twitter users’ demographic characteristics (e.g. gender and home location) and investigate demographic differences in public perceptions of the HPV vaccine; 3) Develop a web-based interactive visualization system to monitor real-time Twitter discussions of the HPV vaccine. For Aim 1, the bi-directional long short-term memory (LSTM) network with attention mechanism outperformed traditional machine learning and competitive deep learning algorithms in mapping Twitter discussions to the theoretical constructs of behavior change theories. Domain-specific embedding trained on HPV vaccine-related Twitter corpus by fastText algorithms further improved performance on some tasks. Time series analyses revealed evolving trends of public perceptions regarding the HPV vaccine. For Aim 2, the character-based convolutional neural network model achieved favorable state-of-the-art performance in Twitter gender inference on a Public Author Profiling challenge. The trained models then were applied to the Twitter corpus and they identified gender differences in public perceptions of the HPV vaccine. The findings on gender differences were largely consistent with previous survey-based studies. For the Twitter users’ home location inference, geo-tagging was framed as text classification tasks that resulted in a character-based recurrent neural network model. The model outperformed machine learning and deep learning baselines on home location tagging. Interstate variations in public perceptions of the HPV vaccine also were identified. For Aim 3, a prototype web-based interactive dashboard, VaxInsight, was built to synthesize HPV vaccine-related Twitter discussions in a comprehendible format. The usability test of VaxInsight showed high usability of the system. Notably, this maybe the first study to use deep learning algorithms to understand Twitter discussions of the HPV vaccine within the perspective of grounded behavior change theories. VaxInsight is also the first system that allows users to explore public health beliefs of vaccine related topics from Twitter. Thus, the present research makes original and systematical contributions to medical informatics by combining cutting-edge artificial intelligence algorithms and grounded behavior change theories. This work also builds a foundation for the next generation of real-time public health surveillance and research

The American Academy of Health Behavior 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting: Health Communication, (Mis-)Information, and Behavior: Leveraging Technology for Behavioral Interventions and Health Behavior Research

The American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) hosted its 24th Annual Scientific Meeting at The DeSoto Hotel in Savannah, Georgia on April 14-17, 2024. The meeting\u27s theme was “Health Communication, (Mis-)Information, and Behavior: Leveraging Technology for Behavioral Interventions and Health Behavior Research . This publication describes the meeting theme and includes the refereed abstracts presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting

Exploring public sentiment and vaccination uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in England: a spatiotemporal and sociodemographic analysis of Twitter data

Objectives: Vaccination is widely regarded as the paramount approach for safeguarding individuals against the repercussions of COVID-19. Nonetheless, concerns surrounding the efficacy and potential adverse effects of these vaccines have become prevalent among the public. To date, there has been a paucity of research investigating public perceptions and the adoption of COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the present study endeavours to address this lacuna by undertaking a spatiotemporal analysis of sentiments towards vaccination and its uptake in England at the local authority level, while concurrently examining the sociodemographic attributes at the national level. // Methods: A sentiment analysis of Twitter data was undertaken to delineate the distribution of positive sentiments and their demographic correlates. Positive sentiments were categorized into clusters to streamline comparison across different age and gender demographics. The relationship between positive sentiment and vaccination uptake was evaluated using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Additionally, a bivariate analysis was carried out to further probe public sentiment towards COVID-19 vaccines and their local adoption rates. // Result: The results indicated that the majority of positive tweets were posted by males, although females expressed higher levels of positive sentiment. The age group over 40 dominated the positive tweets and exhibited the highest sentiment polarity. Additionally, vaccination uptake was positively correlated with the number of positive tweets and the age group at the local authority level. // Conclusion: Overall, public opinions on COVID-19 vaccines are predominantly positive. The number of individuals receiving vaccinations at the local authority level is positively correlated with the prevalence of positive attitudes towards vaccines, particularly among the population aged over 40. These findings suggest that targeted efforts to increase vaccination uptake among younger populations, particularly males, are necessary to achieve widespread vaccination coverage

Applying the COM-B behaviour model to understand factors which impact 15–16 year old students’ ability to protect themselves against acquirement of Human Papilloma virus (HPV) in Northern Ireland, UK

High-risk strains of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to the development of a number of cancers including cervical, vulvar, penile, anal and oropharyngeal. HPV vaccination programmes offer the HPV vaccine to males and females 12–13 years old in schools throughout the UK. However, knowledge of HPV remains low in post-primary schools. The aim of this study is to capture 15–16 year old students’ perceptions regarding the current provision of HPV education, and whether providing HPV education to 15–16 year olds could influence their intention to be vaccinated and/or future sexual health decisions related to HPV. Between 5th November 2021 and 6th May 2022, seven focus groups were conducted with 34 students in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The data was analysed using the COM-B behaviour model to explore the perceived facilitators and barriers impacting students’ ability to protect themselves from acquirement of HPV. Students perceived their knowledge of HPV to be poor and supported the addition of comprehensive mandatory HPV education at 15–16 years old when many of them were becoming sexually active. They identified barriers including lack of parental education, school ethos and religion and insufficient education regarding their legal rights to self-consent to HPV vaccination. Students felt that removal of these barriers would lead to safer sexual practices, increased awareness of the importance of HPV screening and increased HPV vaccination uptake. The recommendations provided by students need to be supported by the Education Authority in conjunction with the Department of Health in order to be successfully implemented into the post-primary school curriculum

Exploring public sentiment and vaccination uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in England: a spatiotemporal and sociodemographic analysis of Twitter data

ObjectivesVaccination is widely regarded as the paramount approach for safeguarding individuals against the repercussions of COVID-19. Nonetheless, concerns surrounding the efficacy and potential adverse effects of these vaccines have become prevalent among the public. To date, there has been a paucity of research investigating public perceptions and the adoption of COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the present study endeavours to address this lacuna by undertaking a spatiotemporal analysis of sentiments towards vaccination and its uptake in England at the local authority level, while concurrently examining the sociodemographic attributes at the national level.MethodsA sentiment analysis of Twitter data was undertaken to delineate the distribution of positive sentiments and their demographic correlates. Positive sentiments were categorized into clusters to streamline comparison across different age and gender demographics. The relationship between positive sentiment and vaccination uptake was evaluated using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Additionally, a bivariate analysis was carried out to further probe public sentiment towards COVID-19 vaccines and their local adoption rates.ResultThe results indicated that the majority of positive tweets were posted by males, although females expressed higher levels of positive sentiment. The age group over 40 dominated the positive tweets and exhibited the highest sentiment polarity. Additionally, vaccination uptake was positively correlated with the number of positive tweets and the age group at the local authority level.ConclusionOverall, public opinions on COVID-19 vaccines are predominantly positive. The number of individuals receiving vaccinations at the local authority level is positively correlated with the prevalence of positive attitudes towards vaccines, particularly among the population aged over 40. These findings suggest that targeted efforts to increase vaccination uptake among younger populations, particularly males, are necessary to achieve widespread vaccination coverage

Memes, Memes, Everywhere, nor Any Meme to Trust: Examining the Credibility and Persuasiveness of COVID-19-Related Memes

This study examined the credibility and persuasiveness of COVID-19-related Internet memes. This approach is important given the widespread use of social media during the pandemic and the rise of meme-based communication on social media. The study found that memes from an expert source are more credible and persuasive than those from a nonexpert source. The same applied to memes with an objective message over those with a subjective message. The credibility of a meme also improved its persuasiveness, meaning that users were more likely to like it, comment on it, and share it with others. As expected, younger people were more likely to like, share, and comments on memes. Overall, pro-mask/vaccine memes were more credible and persuasive than anti-mask/vaccines memes. These results suggest that public health campaigns may benefit by incorporating memes in their communications

Employees on social media: A multi-spokespeople model of CSR communication

Increasing societal and stakeholder expectations, along with easy access to information through social media, means corporations are asked for more information. The traditional approach to CSR communication, with corporations controlling what and how much to share with stakeholders has been restructured by social media, with stakeholders taking control. As legitimacy on social media is created through the positive and negative judgements of stakeholders, corporations must plan how to meet stakeholder demands for information effectively and legitimately, and this includes choosing appropriate spokespeople. Corporations in India have now turned towards their employees as CSR spokespeople. By encouraging employee activity on social media, these corporations are attempting to meet stakeholder demands and generate legitimacy through spokespeople whom stakeholders perceive as equals. This article examines that strategy and discusses its viability of using employees as spokespeople for CSR communication and engagement with stakeholder

Health communication science digest searchable archive

The Health Communication Science Digest (HCSD) Archive includes all Health Communication Science Digest issues in a searchable file.You can search HCSD issues based on author names, keywords appearing in article titles, and/or journals. Information about a specific issue, such as month published or issue number, can also be searched.Navigate to individual HCSD issues using the page icons at the bottom of the screen. Alternatively, you can navigate to an individual HCSD issue using the arrows (left and right) on the screen edge.Double-clicking the issue image in the center of the screen enlarges the issue. Double-clicking again opens the individual issue PDF file.Publication date from document properties.hcsd-earchive.pdf2019672

Designing Effective Messages to Promote Future Zika Vaccine Uptake

The Zika virus is associated with the devastating birth defect microcephaly, and while a vaccine was not yet available in early-2017, several were under development. It is imperative to identify effective communication strategies to promote uptake of a new vaccine, particularly among women of reproductive age. Moreover, though the Zika outbreak has received much social media attention, little is known about these conversations on Instagram. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, was to understand current Zika-focused communication on Instagram and to inform effective communication strategies to promote future Zika vaccine uptake intent. The study aims were: (1) explore Zika conversations on Instagram; (2) determine effective message characteristics to increase Zika vaccine uptake intent; and (3) explore salient demographic, healthcare, and psychosocial factors related to Zika vaccine uptake intent. A content analysis of 1,000 Zika-focused Instagram posts, found that these messages primarily focus on perceived threat constructs, yet they elicited little engagement. In addition, 10% of all Instagram posts mentioned conspiracy theories, and these messages elicited high engagement. A 2x2 online experiment tested the effect of message framing and visual type on Zika vaccine uptake intent. The 339 participants – all women of reproductive age – each were exposed to one of four messages (gain vs. loss-framed, and infographic vs. photo). There was no interaction effect of framing and visual type (p=.116), nor main effect of either framing (p=.185) or visual type (p=.724) on vaccine uptake intent. When testing the effect of these variables on those known to be predictors of behavioral intent, gain-framed messages were associated with higher subjective norms, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy. Data from the same online survey was used to examine whether demographics, healthcare-related variables, and psychosocial variables predict Zika vaccine uptake intent. Attitude (p\u3c.001), subjective norms (p=.002), perceived benefits (p=.001), self-efficacy (p=.031), perceived susceptibility (p=.030), and cues to action (p=.020) were predictive of higher Zika vaccine uptake intent, as was being African-American (p=.042). In summary, messages promoting the Zika vaccine should be designed to complement the high perceived threat of Zika while activating positive social norms and perceived benefits in order to allow the public to respond efficaciously