JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Interactive narrative-based digital health interventions hold promise for effectively addressing the complex determinants of vaccine hesitancy and promoting effective communication across a wide range of settings and vaccine types. Gaining insight into the implementation and evaluation of these interventions could offer valuable perspectives for shaping future strategies in vaccine communication. Prior systematic and scoping reviews have examined narrative-based communication for vaccines, but not their interactivity.

Objective:

The overall objective of the scoping review is to summarize the evidence on the use of interactive narrative-based digital health interventions for vaccine communication. Specific research questions focus on describing the use of interactive digital narrative-based interventions (RQ1), describing evaluations of interactive narrative-based digital health interventions on promoting vaccine uptake (RQ2), and factors associated with their implementation (RQ3).

Methods:

A detailed search string will be used to search the following databases for records that are relevant to the review questions: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Two reviewers will independently screen the titles and abstracts of identified records against the predefined eligibility criteria. Subsequently, eligible records will undergo comprehensive full-text screening by two independent reviewers to assess their relevance to review questions. A data charting tool will be developed and utilized to extract relevant information from the included articles. The extracted information will be analyzed in accordance with the review questions and presented as a narrative summary. Tabular or graphical representations will be utilized to display review findings, as relevant.

Results:

Public health informationists were consulted to develop the detailed search strategy. The final search string comprised terms related to narrative communication, digital health, and vaccines. The search string was customized to each proposed record database and implemented on April 18, 2023. A total of 4,474 unique records were identified using the search strategy and imported into the Covidence™ review management software for title and abstract screening. Title and abstract screening of identified records is ongoing as of July 20, 2023.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this will be the first scoping review to investigate the features of interactive narrative-based digital health interventions and their role in vaccine communication. The goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research landscape and identify prevailing gaps in knowledge. The findings will provide insights for future research and development of novel applications of interactive narrative-based digital health vaccine communication interventions.