Barriers and facilitators to influenza vaccination among high-risk groups aged less than 65 years - views from general practitioners and practice nurses

Objectives: To explore the views of general practitioners and practice nurses about barriers to influenza vaccination among under 65 high-risk patients and strategies to overcome those barriers. Methods: Focus group discussions with general practitioners and practice nurses. Results: Barriers identified included: lack of awareness among patients about influenza vaccination; GP workload; poor GP motivation; lack of practice nurses; lack of patient recall systems; cost of vaccine; and lack of media campaign. Strategies proposed included: public education campaigns; free supply of vaccine; dissemination of evidence to motivate GPs; incentives to establish recall systems; and greater involvement of practice nurses in the process. Conclusion: Influenza vaccination has not been well accepted by people aged less than 65 years. Implementation of proposed strategies has the potential to improve the vaccination coverage. Implications: An improvement in influenza vaccination coverage among people less than 65 years who are in high-risk groups has the potential to reduce hospitalisation and health care costs.