Bringing the social into vaccination research: Community-led ethnography and trust-building in immunization programs in Sierra Leone.

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy is a complex, contested social phenomenon and existing research highlights the multifaceted role of trust in strengthening vaccine confidence. However, understanding public engagement with vaccination through the lens of (mis)trust requires more contextual evidence on trust's qualitative determinants. This includes expanding the geographic focus beyond current studies' focus on High Income Countries. Furthermore, obstacles remain in effectively integrating social science findings in the design of vaccine deployment strategies, and in ensuring that those who implement interventions and are affected by them are directly involved in producing knowledge about vaccination challenges. METHODS: We piloted a community-led ethnographic approach, training Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Kambia District, Sierra Leone, in qualitative social science methods. Methods included participant observation, participatory power mapping and rumour tracking, focus group discussions and key stakeholder interviews. CHWs, with the support of public health officials and professional social scientists, conducted research on vaccination challenges, analysed data, tested new community engagement strategies based on their findings and elicited local perspectives on these approaches. RESULTS: Our findings on vaccine confidence in five border communities highlighted three key themes: the impact of prior experiences with the health system on (mis)trust; relevance of livelihood strategies and power dynamics for vaccine uptake and access; and the contextual nature of knowledge around vaccines. Across these themes, we show how expressions of trust centered on social proximity, reliability and respect and the role of structural issues affecting both vaccine access and confidence. The pilot also highlighted the value and practical challenges to meaningfully co-designed research. CONCLUSION: There is scope for broader application of a community-led ethnographic approach will help redesign programming that is responsive to local knowledge and experience. Involving communities and low-cadre service providers in generating knowledge and solutions can strengthen relationships and sustain dialogue to bolster vaccine confidence.

Risk factors for post-discharge venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing colorectal resection: a NSQIP analysis.

BACKGROUND: Extended thromboprophylaxis after abdominal and pelvic cancer surgery to prevent venous thromboembolic events (VTE) is recommended but adherence is sub-optimal. Identifying patients at highest risk for post-discharge events may allow for selective extended thromboprophylaxis. The aim of our study was to identify the different risk factors of venous thromboembolism for in-hospital and post-discharge events. METHODS: The American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) 2012-2016 database was queried for all patients having colorectal resection. Primary outcome was postoperative VTE occurrence within 30 days. A multinomial logistic regression was performed to identify in-hospital and post-discharge predictors of VTE, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Out of 260,258 patients, 5381 (2.1%) developed VTE. A total of 3442 (1.3%) were diagnosed during the initial hospital stay and 1929 (0.8%) post-discharge. Risk factors for in-hospital and post-discharge VTE were different as patients with an in-hospital event were more likely to be older, male, known for preoperative steroid use, have poor functional status, significant weight loss, preoperative sepsis, prolonged operative time, undergoing an emergency operation. In the post-discharge setting, steroid use, poor functional status, preoperative sepsis, and postoperative complications remained significant. Postoperative complications were the strongest predictor of in-hospital and post-discharge VTE. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease had a higher risk of VTE than patients with malignancy for both in-patient and post-discharge events. CONCLUSIONS: Patients at high-risk for post-discharge events have different characteristics than those who develop VTE in-hospital. Identifying this specific subset of patients at highest risk for post-discharge VTE may allow for the selective use of prolonged thromboprophylaxis.