Aging & Social Change: Twelfth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The persistently low number of people in the high-risk groups – like older persons – who use voluntary vaccinations justifies deepening the reflection on the social aspects of health-related behaviour, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper compares the ways of understanding the vaccination phenomenon and attitudes towards it between a group of older persons who have taken flu vaccination in the last three seasons and those who abstain from it. An ongoing study conducted during the coronavirus pandemic involves retired older residents of Cracow, Poland. They are recruited through Senior Activity Centers and provided with self-filling questionnaires. Analysis of the survey data will use the free association method (Doise, Clemence, Lorenzi-Cioldi, 1993) based on the open-ended question about associations with influenza and vaccinations. Associations profiles of both study groups will be compared with the results obtained using three scales for measuring attitudes towards vaccination (Betsch et al. 2018; Martin, Petrie 2017; Szczerbińska et al. 2017). Preliminary results show discrepancies between groups of older persons. Groups significantly differ in vaccine confidence, complacency, and collective responsibility. Non-vaccinators exhibit more complex and contradictory associations, as opposed to a coherent picture among those who get vaccinated (vaccine as a health protection tool). The literature review revealed limited research concerning the social perception of voluntary flu vaccination among older adults. Therefore it seems reasonable to incorporate their perspective as the key target group of vaccination and promote pro-health initiatives at every stage of life.