The Language of Health Threats and Preventive Measures - Biographical Narratives of the Older People Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Against Influenza during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Health risk perceptions may play a significant role in accepting and engaging in preventive actions toward those risks. Agreeing on language definitions and using different ways of naming or explaining may change the perception of phenomena. Language is a medium for creating, transforming, and transmitting ways of understanding It is through language that we can recreate those interpretations

The paper compares biographical health narratives from the perspective of older people who made different decisions regarding voluntary influenza vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main goal is to compare the wording and metaphors used to talk about infectious diseases and therapeutic or preventive actions regarding infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on vaccination.

The study involves survey questionnaires and biographical narrative interviews with older citizens who have received voluntary influenza vaccination in the three years before the research and those who did not. To recreate the narratives about health-related risks and preventive or mitigating actions, we use 1) the free association method on the open-ended answer regarding associations with the words: “vaccinations”, “influenza” and “health”; 2) content analysis on interview transcripts;

To reach more socially active and engaged older people with more peer contacts, the participants were recruited via Senior Activity Centers in Cracow I assumed they could be “super spreaders” of specific ways of creating language images of infections and vaccination Thus, their perspective can be used as insights for more inclusive and adequate communication within health programs and interventions and to promote health initiatives at every stage of life.