COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence

Every day many more people are becoming partially or fully vaccinated, but there are many others who have not been vaccinated, despite the demonstrated safety of the vaccines and their high degree of effectiveness in preventing severe illness and death. Social workers, as professionals who provide services in a wide range of community settings, and who are trusted messengers, are in a unique position to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence, access, and uptake — particularly among populations with low vaccination rates and higher vulnerability to severe forms of infection.

NASW and the NASW Foundation are partnering with the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT) at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded (CDC) initiative to support social workers and their clients in informed vaccine decision-making. 

Upcoming Webinar:

How to Support Clients in COVID-19 Vaccine Decision Making

April 13, 2023,  from 9:00am - 3:00pm CST

5 Free CEs |Free Registration

This interactive training will introduce motivational interviewing (MI) and Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), and how these evidence-based modalities can be effectively deployed to help guide collaborative conversations with clients about COVID-19 vaccine decision-making.

MI is a collaborative conversation approach that develops and strengthens a client’s motivation for and commitment to change around health-related behavior(s). The MI framework recognizes the client as the expert in their own lived experience. Research on MI has demonstrated its benefits with marginalized populations who have not necessarily received equitable and affirming experiences in care and health settings. Topics will include the MI spirit and MI core skills to help clients resolve ambivalence towards positive change. The training will also introduce SBIRT, a five-step model for working with clients with substance use disorders which can be adapted for use in supporting vaccine decision making.

The training is provided through Connect to End COVID-19, an initiative of NASW, the NASW Foundation and the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information about this effort, visit NASW National Office's page.

Speakers:

  • Lloyd Berg, PhD – Associate Professor and Division Chief of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin
  • Leslie Sirrianni, LCSW-Senior Research Project and Training Coordinator; Health Behavior Research and Training Institute; The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work

Note: The training will not be recorded. Space is limited so please do not register unless you can definitely attend.

COVID-19: Communication Resources


Videos and print materials translated into multiple languages


Communities Confronting Covid-19


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Communities Confronting COVID-19 aims to protect rural Wisconsin communities by working to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake

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Health Listening

Responding to misinformation can be overwhelming. Health Listening is here to help.

  • A tremendous amount of information (and mis- and disinformation) is circulating online about health topics like vaccines and COVID-19.
  • As partners aim to provide useful, factual information to their communities, but it’s often challenging and time-consuming to decide what to say and how to say it.
  • Health Listening provides weekly health messaging in English and Spanish tailored to the needs of community-based organizations.
  • Each week, the Public Good Projects' team of public health professionals, journalists, and media monitoring researchers surfaces only the most impactful online conversations.
  • These quickly provide an overview of the topic, why it matters, and how you could respond in both English and Spanish. Use the response suggestions to guide communication to your communities online or in other formats. Just bookmark the URL and visit each week for the most recent information.

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Connect to end COVID-19, overlapping speech bubbles, social workers support informed vaccine decision making

Join NASW’s national Connect to End COVID-19 effort, a CDC-funded initiative to support social workers and their clients in informed vaccine decision-making. Complimentary webinars and CEUs available.

Learn about Connect to End COVID-19


In the News


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covid-19 resources

social workers support informed decision making about important healthcare choices, provide health information from credible sources, and address mental and behavioral health concerns arising as a result of this public health crisis.

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