How to Engage the Arts to Build COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence
Creative Approaches to COVID-19 Vaccination to Unite the Arts and Sciences
Arts and cultural engagement can generate community demand for COVID-19 vaccines by making vaccination an accessible and socially supported choice.
On this page, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares field guides, resources, and examples public health professionals, health communicators, teachers, and community organizations can use in their work to increase COVID-19 vaccination confidence and demand through the arts.
The term arts and culture refers to the wide range of cultural identities, traditions, and creative expressions that exist in communities. It includes art forms such as music, dance, spoken word, painting, and theater, as well as graphic design, culinary arts, spiritual practices, and celebrations of local places and histories.
Arts and cultural activities take place in arts and cultural centers, schools, libraries, homes, places of worship, local businesses, in parks, and on streets.
Examples of Art and Culture in Public Health Vaccination Efforts
Local artists can communicate vaccine information in a way that often makes it more understandable, memorable, culturally relevant, and actionable.
The Vaccine Confidence Arts Response Repository
Developed by the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, this resource is an open-access collection of recent or current projects, organizations and professionals using arts and culture-based approaches to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake. Explore for more practice examples, as well as professional contacts to incorporate arts and culture into your public health vaccination efforts.
Downloadable Field Guides for Building Creative Partnerships, Programs, and Vaccination Campaigns
Building Sustainable Partnerships
This evidence-based guide provides guidance and resources on how to engage cross-sector collaborations with arts and culture as a valuable partner in promoting COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake.
This guide helps public health and health communication professionals:
- Understand the value and synergies of partnering with local artists, culture-bearers, and arts and culture organizations to promote healthy behaviors
- Develop effective and durable partnerships for advancing vaccine confidence through more engaging, tailored, and culturally responsive and sustainable programming
- Stimulate more accessible, equitable, and responsive programs that reduce barriers to vaccine confidence and uptake
Also included are promising practices and practical information such as:
- How to find and engage artists, culture-bearers, and arts and cultural organizations
- How to build equitable and lasting partnerships for COVID-19 response and immunizations more broadly
- How to overcome common challenges and barriers in cross-sector partnerships
Building Programs and Creative Campaigns
This evidence-based guide is designed to help public health professionals partner with local artists and culture-bearers to create culturally responsive and sustainable vaccine education materials and programs that can help increase vaccine confidence and uptake.
This guide includes practical information on how to design, implement, and evaluate programs with arts and culture organizations.