ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Strategies for developing and advancing good public relations can be recognized in nearly all fields of life without making an exception for the healthcare industry. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, matters of public health have gathered more force. The importance of effective public relations for improving healthcare is highlighted by the position that immediate access to reliable health information should be the hallmark of a just society. However, the strategies available for addressing major threats to the uptake of public health services such as mass vaccination campaigns are not properly studied and documented in the Ghanaian context. This organizational case study explored strategies used by healthcare professionals working with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to address COVID-19-related vaccine hesitancy in the country. METHODS: We performed a qualitative inquiry with semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 25 public health officials of the GHS. The interviews were timed to coincide with the mass deployment of COVID-19 vaccines in four Regions. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Data collected included demographic characteristics, perspectives on public relations strategies used in the past year to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake as well as successes and pitfalls. Thematic analysis was performed with NVIVO software to generate themes from interview transcripts. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the data analysis and these are presented. Healthcare workers perceived vaccine hesitancy to be a threat with the potential to undermine an important strategic organizational goal related to COVID-19 illness. In terms of PR strategies, we determined that a combination of informative, motivational, persuasive and coercive public relations strategies was employed by the Ghana Health Service to address the challenge of vaccine hesitancy. We further found that PR strategies were deployed across both traditional (print, radio, TV) and emerging/social media networks. Officials were optimistic that the strategies would produce results, but were uncertain whether they could attribute current successes or failures to the PR strategies used. CONCLUSION: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, public relations strategies which have been employed by the Ghana Health Service to address vaccine hesitancy are characterized and catalogued. The nature of the audience and PR strategies employed suggests that the effect of these strategies may be short-lived unless they are constantly reinforced by the GHS. These findings show that effective PR strategies exist for addressing vaccine hesitancy in public health practice.
ABSTRACT
(1) Background: Nearly one out of ten Ghanaian female adolescents aged 15-19 has experienced childbearing in urban settlements compared to twice this number in the rural populations due to unintended pregnancies. This study assessed the linkages between knowledge, attitudes, and use of contraceptives and adolescent pregnancy in one of the highly affected Municipalities (i.e., Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abrem [KEEA]) in Ghana. (2) Methods: Employing a facility-based sampling method, 378 female adolescents aged 15-19 were selected. Unadjusted odds ratio (uOR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) at 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p-values were used for significant variables at p < 0.05. (3) Results: Pregnant adolescents were 2 times more likely to indicate that the procedure of procuring contraceptives is quite uncomfortable (aOR = 2.42, 95% CI = [1.29-4.55]; p = 0.006). Also, pregnant adolescents were 5 times more likely to have ever used traditional contraceptive methods than their non-pregnant counterparts (aOR = 5.02, 95% CI = [2.60-9.71]; p < 0.001). On the contrary, pregnant adolescents had lower odds of indicating that contraceptives are for only married people (aOR = 0.38, 95% CI = [0.20-0.70]; p = 0.002) and that it feels bad to receive contraceptive information from parents and relatives than non-pregnant adolescents (aOR = 0.42, 95% CI = [0.24-0.74]; p = 0.003). Pregnant adolescents were less likely to use modern contraceptives than their non-pregnant adolescents (aOR = 0.18, 95% CI = [0.11-0.31]; p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: The findings indicate that female adolescents' use of traditional contraceptives is associated with the risk of pregnancy in KEEA Municipality within the Central Region of Ghana. However, adolescents who had the perception that contraceptives are for married people and those who used modern contraceptives were less likely to get pregnant. Government and non-governmental organizations in Ghana should implement educational policies and programmes aimed at educating sexually-active female adolescents on modern contraceptives and the need to use them to prevent pregnancies. The basis for such policies and programmes should be based on evidence that compared to traditional contraceptives, modern contraceptives are more effective. In addition, there is the need to provide accurate information regarding the use of contraceptives to adolescents that will help change their attitudes towards the use of contraceptives.
