Peer-reviewed article
From Information to Vaccination: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Community Participation in Catch-Up Vaccination for Children in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
Fadiga AG, Shahabuddin A, Yohou KS, Soro F, Manouan M et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined what prevents children in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from participating in catch-up vaccination campaigns. Researchers interviewed 106 parents and caregivers and identified seven components that influence whether children get vaccinated, including access to information, trust in health services, social acceptance, and parents' ability to attend. The study found that low participation results from multiple interacting factors—not just vaccine hesitancy—and proposes a framework to help programs identify and address where the pathway from information to vaccination breaks down.
Key points
- Seven components shape community participation: exposure to information, understanding, trust in actors and services, social acceptance, parents' availability and capacity, participation in the activity, and effective vaccination
- Five cross-cutting factors influence progression along the participation pathway
- Participation breaks down when information is insufficient, trust is undermined by perceived costs or rumors, social acceptance is constrained, or parents face competing work and time demands
- Non-participation results from interactions between informational, social, individual, structural, and organizational factors rather than vaccine hesitancy alone
- The Community Participation Pathway for Catch-up Vaccination (CPP-CV) identifies disruption points between information exposure and effective vaccination
Limitations
This is a qualitative study describing perceptions and barriers in two health districts of Abidjan; it does not measure the actual prevalence of these barriers or test interventions to overcome them. The findings may not be generalizable beyond urban Côte d'Ivoire or other similar settings.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Catch-up vaccination is essential for reaching zero-dose and under-vaccinated children. However, community participation depends on several factors whose interactions remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to analyze the dimensions structuring community participation in catch-up vaccination and to develop a conceptual framework describing their relationships. Methods: An analytical qualitative study was conducted between July and November 2025 in the health districts of Abobo and Yopougon, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Data were gathered from 106 participants through 26 semi-structured individual interviews and eight focus group discussions involving 80 parents or caregivers of children aged 0-59 months. Interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed in French, and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo 14 (Lumivero, Denver, CO, USA). A standardized thematic codebook with operational definitions was used by three coders to ensure consistent coding across transcripts. Results: Thematic analysis across participant groups identified seven components shaping community participation: exposure to information, understanding of the message, trust in actors and services, social acceptance, parents' availability and capacity, participation in the activity, and effective vaccination of the child. Five cross-cutting factors influenced progression along this pathway. Participation could break down when information was insufficient or unclear, trust was undermined by perceived costs or rumors, social acceptance was constrained, or parents faced competing work and time demands. These interactions informed the Community Participation Pathway for Catch-up Vaccination (CPP-CV), which identifies potential disruption points between information exposure and effective vaccination and highlights that non-participation may result from the interaction of informational, social, individual, structural, and organizational factors rather than vaccine hesitancy alone. Conclusions: The findings suggest that participation in catch-up vaccination goes beyond information alone and results from the interaction between community and organizational factors. Non-participation should not be treated as a single problem or assumed to reflect vaccine hesitancy. The CPP-CV provides a programmatically oriented framework for identifying where the pathway from information to vaccination breaks down and for tailoring catch-up strategies accordingly.