Researchers Use Augmented Reality to Encourage Pediatric Vaccination in Philadelphia

During the 2024 flu season, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania worked with members of the West Philadelphia community to co-create and test augmented reality (AR) health campaigns about pediatric vaccination. A study from the team shed light on how AR can be used to build trust among vaccine-hesitant members of the public and educate them about the importance of pediatric flu vaccines.

While both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasize that childhood vaccines are thoroughly tested to ensure safety and effectiveness, misinformation circulates about pediatric vaccines in the public.

To build trust and encourage vaccination, a multi-disciplinary research team from the Annenberg School, Penn Nursing, and Penn Medicine worked with parents and guardians to share information and build community. The team from Annenberg included Associate Professor Andy Tan, doctoral candidate Kate Okker-Edging, and Extended Reality Lab co-directors Katerina Girginova (Ph.D. ’19) and Kyle Cassidy.

With the help of West Philadelphians interested in educating friends and neighbors about childhood vaccination, the research team created posters and postcards printed with QR codes, leading users to different AR videos and experiences. When a person scans the QR code with their phone, the poster or postcard “comes alive” with a short video sharing the importance of pediatric vaccination overlaying the poster. Users can also access a map of the closest vaccination clinics based on their location.

Tan, director of the Health Communication & Equity Lab, was inspired to join the collaboration because of its commitment to community engagement, something he prioritizes in his work. “We sought community input iteratively from the beginning,” he said. “We learned so much from each of the parents who contributed their time and invaluable insights to help make sure the video content and format centered on the needs of Philadelphia residents.”

The team spent over a year working with community members to develop and refine their messaging, from

workshopping video scripts to choosing images on posters. “Pediatric vaccination remains an incredibly salient issue of health equity, so it is especially important to develop campaigns that meet the needs of the audience, in collaboration with the audience,” said Okker-Edging, a member of the Health Communication & Equity Lab whose research focuses on youth well-being. “It was a great experience to work with community members on script writing, filming and other aspects of the project,” she said.

Based on best practices from scientific research and community input the team created short, lighthearted videos that highlight the importance of pediatric vaccination and that feature many actors who are Philadelphian parents themselves. “We went with a humorous approach to our campaign because research shows that using humor helps to connect with vaccine-hesitant communities,” said Cassidy.

Multiple posters and postcards were created for each campaign and placed in different locations in Philadelphia. “Using augmented reality was a natural fit for the delivery of our content because it has the unique capacity to be integrated within a person’s surroundings, adding to our efforts to connect with local communities,” said Girginova. Early findings indicated that the more credible, community-oriented and relatable the AR content, the more likely users were to feel a connection with it and place themselves within the scenario.

The researchers hope that this work will pave the way for more healthcare and public health communication initiatives and encourage researchers to consider how AR and other immersive technologies can be used ethically and effectively in public health messaging. “This process of co-designing a novel, engaging and community-centered approach to share health information with parents and residents will inform our future approaches for addressing other health crises,” Tan said.

“Our work with AR offers a framework for combining essential public health messaging with emerging technology in a hyper-local setting,” said Okker-Edging. “Beyond the campaign messages themselves, I am hopeful that our community-centered approach has led to strengthened relationships that will continue to benefit communities in West Philly.”

Girginova agrees: “We are continuing our research on augmented reality media because we see much potential in the way it can connect people, content and places in an effort to make messaging more personal, impactful and likely to inspire real action.”