Vaccine Toolkit for State Legislators

There are 370 bills pertaining to vaccines, and 40% could have a negative impact on our community’s health. Legislators and their staff need these tools to understand the issues and respond appropriately to colleagues and constituents in a timely fashion. We’ll be providing:

The expedited development and distribution of a Vaccine Tool Kit for State Legislators to all US states and territories.

The Tool Kit project will be led by Dr. Glenna Crooks, a recognized public health policy expert with extensive vaccine and state legislative educational experience. It will be guided by Health Pathfinder, a non-profit focused on helping Americans gain access to healthcare, medicines, and vaccines, with support from Janet Carlson and the 1.11 Group, which have worked with most of the US vaccine companies on their websites, as well as sales and marketing materials. Atiba Madyun, of The Madyun Group, will engage with state legislators and their groups to ensure the Tool Kit is optimized to support legislators’ needs. The Tool Kit will:

• Provide non-partisan, balanced, accessible, and empathetic explanations of vaccine science, policy, and safety.
• Outline economic implications of preventable disease outbreaks for states and employers.
• Offer plug-and-play evidence-based, empathetic content that legislators (and their staff) can adapt for legislative responsibilities and constituent communications.
• Provide respectful and strategically structured content to meet audiences where they are, presenting it simply and without condescension or complexity. 
• Ensure that non-experts can debate and develop effective policies when experts are unavailable to assist.

The content will be optimized for legislators, their staff, committee staff, and adjacent professionals (e.g., state and local public health officials, pharmacists, physicians). This particular methodology, Evidence-Based Policy Messages, was developed by Dr. Crooks and is informed by her experience as a policymaker. It has been used to frame value messages for several biopharmaceutical product categories, including vaccines.

Messaging Revamp 

One of the projects we have focused on is helping healthcare/pharma companies better communicate to consumers. We have found that almost ALL vaccine messaging is at a literacy level 12th grade or higher. The average American reads and comprehends at a 5th – 8th grade level. The level of empathy has been low in messaging. Often, healthcare information is not empathizing with the patient – increasing the empathy level can have a major impact on how the message is received.