Woman smiling with vaccine bandaid

Across the state, community organizations have been working hard to vaccinate Coloradans against COVID-19 and ensure equity for those who have less power and privilege. Setting up sites, providing patient navigation, translating materials, coordinating transportation and more – we’ve heard about so many life-saving efforts in every corner of Colorado.

The following are a series of resources for organizations and individuals that are engaging people who are hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines. The recommendations in these documents are based on recent, deep qualitative research with Black, Latino and Native American Coloradans. The research included a landscape analysis, 18 focus groups with 93 participants (10 Latino/Hispanic groups including six in Spanish, four Black/African American groups, two Native American groups and two White groups) and a large survey of 1,506 Coloradans. Testing demonstrated an increase in likelihood to get vaccinated when messengers build trust, answer questions and inspire hope.
 
We recommend you first familiarize yourself with the overall messaging guide to understand the best practices for communicating with people who have not yet decided whether to get vaccinated. Once you’ve reviewed the full guide, we invite you to use any of the supporting documents that make sense for your organization. For example, if you have a regular newsletter you send to your community, you can copy the newsletter content and adapt it to your needs. Similarly, for social media campaigns or planned canvass outreach. Feel free to edit or adjust text so that it matches your organization’s voice, or if you need additional support or more adaptation than your organization can provide, reach out to Joanne Schwartz at Momentum Advisors to receive additional technical assistance.

Resources

Overall messaging guide: ALWAYS START HERE. This guide outlines messaging best practices when talking with people who have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines, including sections on what to avoid in those conversations.

Pocket conversation guide: Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the overall guide, use this one as a quick reference tool to keep your conversations on track.

How to guide for testimonials and videos: Based on our research, this document outlines best practices for recording your own videos to encourage people to get the vaccines; it also includes a section on what to avoid. 

Sample videos: We have included videos from our research that were effective in moving audiences, and you are invited to post, share, or distribute through your own channels. Our latest versions of the videos are directly linked here:

Canvass discussion guide: For organizations that plan to have detailed conversations by phone or in-person, this document outlines the best practices, including who to target and how to start and close the conversation.

Sample emails: The first email in this document can be used to email your full community, encouraging them to ask questions, get vaccinated, or share their own vaccine story; the second email focuses on best practices for sharing your vaccine story and should be used with internal staff, volunteers, or community members who are already vaccinated and will be engaging with unvaccinated, hesitant audiences.

Sample newsletter: This document can be used as part of a periodic newsletter you already send, and it encourages your community members to reach out, ask questions, and get more information.

Sample social media posts: The posts included in this document can be easily adapted to fit your organization’s voice, and they are designed to initiate conversations and resource sharing with your online community followers.

Template and sample handouts:

Frequently asked questions (FAQ): This document outlines the most frequently asked questions and answers about the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Trusted resources: This list of resources are the most trusted sources for clear, factual information about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Resources for specific audiences:

Heartwired: Vaccine Confidence Messaging Guide (developed by research team)

Message training presentation

CDPHEPlaylist of videos designed to answer questions about immunity, side effects, cost of the vaccine, getting paid time off for vaccination, the Delta variant, as well as fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. 

PSA’s aimed at increasing youth vaccinations:

Questions?

If you have questions or would like additional support, you can email Austin Montoya at [email protected].

If you are interested in joining a periodic listserv that shares resources on this topic or participating in a monthly group that convenes to discuss outreach and communications best practices, please fill out this form.

Press enter / return on your keyboard to search