RISE-Vac: Increasing vaccine uptake in European prisons
Research type
Research Study
Full title
RISE-Vac - Reaching the hard-to-reach: Increasing access and vaccine uptake among prison population in Europe. Assessing vaccine hesitancy, literacy and uptake in European prisons
IRAS ID
325621
Contact name
Emma Plugge
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UK Health Security Agency
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
101018353 , Grant Agreement Number (RISE-Vac)
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions. Among the groups with low vaccination coverage, a key group is people living in prison. In Europe, as globally, most people living in prisons belong to socially deprived communities, with an increasing proportion of migrants and persons from minority ethnic backgrounds. Poor access to healthcare services both before prison and during imprisonment, and inadequate health literacy are likely to contribute to low vaccination coverage among imprisoned people.
The RISE-Vac project aims to increase vaccine uptake and access in prison populations across Europe. This project is being carried out in six different European countries by nine project partners: the UK, France, Moldova, Italy, Cyprus and Germany. RISE-Vac is co-funded by the European Commission.
RISE-Vac will assess current vaccine knowledge in prison populations in England by conducting a survey of people living in prison and staff. The responses will provide the baseline data for the study, along with routine data collected from prison management on vaccine offer and uptake in 2022. The next step in the project will be the dissemination of educational materials on vaccinations for both prison staff and people living in prison. The final step will involve a second round of survey distribution amongst prison staff and people living in prisons, to assess the effect of the educational intervention on vaccine knowledge, followed by a review of vaccine offer and uptake in the prison for 2023, to assess any effect on vaccine uptake. The anonymised data will be analysed by statisticians at the University of Pisa, Italy.
The project will be led in England by the Chief Investigator and Principal Investigator at UKHSA. EP:IC, an organisation with extensive experience of health research with prison populations, have been commissioned to undertake recruitment and interviews.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0577
Date of REC Opinion
7 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion