3.M. Round table: Implementation of tailored interventions for vaccine uptake: Engaging underserved communities

Abstract In order to prevent infectious diseases in the future, it is urgent to remove barriers in health systems that reduce access to vaccination for cultural, religious and ethnic minorities. The EU funded project ‘Reducing Inequalities in Vaccine uptake in the European region - Engaging Underserved communities’ (RIVER-EU) aims to improve access to childhood vaccination for MMR and HPV in underserved communities. By engaging the migrant community in Greece, the Turkish females and Moroccan females in the Netherlands, the Ukrainian minority in Poland, and marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia we identified multiple health system barriers to vaccination, such as a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate information, insufficient capacities, coordination and delivery of health care, and financial barriers. To address these barriers and initiate health system change we used a participatory action research approach. We considered 6 useful evidence-based interventions from a realist review based on the needs of each underserved community, and assessed them in depth for their transferability through 25 workshops and 39 interviews or focus groups with various community members and stakeholders. The selected interventions were specifically tailored to account for community needs and different contextual conditions, followed by a multilevel implementation process in each country. In this workshop, we present the work of RIVER-EU with a focus on the outcomes of this implementation process. The workshop will contribute to an improved understanding of how to remove health system barriers to vaccination in collaboration with underserved communities under consideration of their specific context. The workshop will include a round table with short presentations from each country and a panel discussion to involve the audience. First, an introductory presentation on the RIVER-EU process of removing health system barriers to vaccination will be given, including the transferability of evidence-based interventions and the wider implication for guideline development. Each country will present and discuss results of the implementation process of tailored interventions, with special attention to opportunities, challenges and lessons learned to engage the audience in discussions on tackling inequalities to vaccine uptake. Thereby, we will elaborate on guidelines needed to remove health system barriers to vaccination. Key messages • Removing health system barriers to vaccination in underserved communities requires a longitudinal participatory process to identify, tailor and implement interventions in a specific context. • Our lessons learned show that building local partnerships, sustained engagement and context-sensitive strategies are essential to address these barriers and promote long-term health equity.