JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Since December 2019, COVID-19 led to a pandemic causing many hospitalizations and deaths. Vaccinations were developed and introduced to control viral transmission. In the Dutch context, the decision to accept vaccination or not was considered a free choice. An informed decision is based on sufficient and reliable information, in line with one’s attitudes and values, and with consideration of pros and cons. To support people in informed decision-making, we developed an online corona vaccination decision aid.

Objective:

This article aims to describe the development, dissemination and use of the decision aid.

Methods:

Building on a previously developed decision aid, the corona vaccination decision aid was developed in 3 phases following a user-centered design approach: 1) definition phase, 2) concept testing, and 3) prototype testing. End users, individuals with low literacy and experts (with relevant expertise on medical, behavioral and low literacy aspects) were involved in the iterative development, design and testing, and their feedback formed the basis for adaptations to the decision aid.

Results:

The DA was developed within 14 weeks. The decision aid consists of three modules, which provide information, support decision-making and facilitate actions following a decision. These modules are translated into various information tiles and diverse functionalities such as a knowledge test, a value clarification tool using a decisional balance and a communication tool. The decision aid was disseminated for use in May 2021. Users varied greatly regarding age, gender and location in the Netherlands.

Conclusions:

This paper elaborates on the development of the corona vaccination decision aid in a brief time period, and its dissemination for use among Dutch adults in the Netherlands. The evaluation of use showed that we were able to reach a large proportion and variety of people throughout the Netherlands.