Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Factors Associated With Complete COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Migrant Origin Persons in Finland.

Objective: We examined incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and factors associated with complete COVID-19 vaccine uptake among persons of migrant origin in Finland. Methods: Data on laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine doses between March 2020 and November 2021 were linked to FinMonik register sample (n = 13,223) and MigCOVID (n = 3,668) survey data using unique personal identifier. Logistic regression was the main method of analyses. Results: Among FinMonik sample, complete COVID-19 vaccine uptake was lower among persons of Russia/former Soviet Union, Estonia, and rest of Africa and higher among persons of Southeast Asia, rest of Asia, and the Middle East/North Africa than among persons originating from Europe/North America/Oceania. Male sex, younger age, migration age (<18 years) and shorter length of residence were associated with lower vaccine uptake among FinMonik sample, whereas younger age, being economically inactive, poorer language skills, experiences of discrimination and psychological distress were associated with lower vaccine uptake among MigCOVID sub-sample. Conclusion: Our Findings point to a further need of tailored and targeted communication and community outreach strategies to increase vaccine uptake among persons of migrant origin.

Association of sociodemographic characteristics with self-perceived access to COVID-19 information and adherence to preventive measures among migrant origin and general populations in Finland: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines how access to COVID-19 information and adherence to preventive measures varies by sociodemographic characteristics, and whether the associations differ among the migrant origin and the general Finnish population. Additionally, the association of perceived access to information with adherence to preventive measures is examined. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, population-based random sample. BACKGROUND: Equity in access to information is crucial for securing individual well-being and successful management of a crisis at population level. SETTING: Persons who have a residence permit in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Migrant origin population constituted of persons aged 21-66 years born abroad, who took part in the Impact of the Coronavirus on the Wellbeing of the Foreign Born Population (MigCOVID) Survey conducted from October 2020 to February 2021 (n=3611). Participants in the FinHealth 2017 Follow-up Survey conducted within the same time frame, representing the general Finnish population, constituted the reference group (n=3490). OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-perceived access to COVID-19 information, adherence to preventive measures. RESULTS: Self-perceived access to information and adherence to preventive measures was overall high both among the migrant origin and the general population. Perceived adequate access to information was associated with living in Finland for 12 years or longer (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.05-3.57) and excellent Finnish/Swedish language skills (OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.62-4.53) among the migrant origin population and with higher education (OR 3.56, 95% CI 1.49-8.55 for tertiary and OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.25-6.59 for secondary) among the general population. The association between examined sociodemographic characteristics with adherence to preventive measures varied by study group. CONCLUSIONS: Findings on the association of perceived access to information with language proficiency in official languages highlight the need for rapid multilingual and simple language crisis communications. Findings also suggest that crisis communications and measures designed to influence health behaviours at population level may not be directly transferable if the aim is to influence health behaviours also among ethnically and culturally diverse populations.

Social Listening to Enhance Access to Appropriate Pandemic Information Among Culturally Diverse Populations: Case Study From Finland.

Background: Social listening, the process of monitoring and analyzing conversations to inform communication activities, is an essential component of infodemic management. It helps inform context-specific communication strategies that are culturally acceptable and appropriate for various subpopulations. Social listening is based on the notion that target audiences themselves can best define their own information needs and messages. Objective: This study aimed to describe the development of systematic social listening training for crisis communication and community outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic through a series of web-based workshops and to report the experiences of the workshop participants implementing the projects. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of experts developed a series of web-based training sessions for individuals responsible for community outreach or communication among linguistically diverse populations. The participants had no previous training in systematic data collection or monitoring. This training aimed to provide participants with sufficient knowledge and skills to develop a social listening system based on their specific needs and available resources. The workshop design took into consideration the pandemic context and focused on qualitative data collection. Information on the experiences of the participants in the training was gathered based on participant feedback and their assignments and through in-depth interviews with each team. Results: A series of 6 web-based workshops was conducted between May and September 2021. The workshops followed a systematic approach to social listening and included listening to web-based and offline sources; rapid qualitative analysis and synthesis; and developing communication recommendations, messages, and products. Follow-up meetings were organized between the workshops during which participants could share their achievements and challenges. Approximately 67% (4/6) of the participating teams established social listening systems by the end of the training. The teams tailored the knowledge provided during the training to their specific needs. As a result, the social systems developed by the teams had slightly different structures, target audiences, and aims. All resulting social listening systems followed the taught key principles of systematic social listening to collect and analyze data and used these new insights for further development of communication strategies. Conclusions: This paper describes an infodemic management system and workflow based on qualitative inquiry and adapted to local priorities and resources. The implementation of these projects resulted in content development for targeted risk communication, addressing linguistically diverse populations. These systems can be adapted for future epidemics and pandemics.