A qualitative examination of the experiences and perspectives of interprofessional primary health care teams in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination in Ontario, Canada.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
    • Subject Terms:
      Primary Health Care* ; COVID-19*/prevention & control ; COVID-19*/epidemiology ; Patient Care Team* ; COVID-19 Vaccines*/administration & dosage ; Vaccination*/statistics & numerical data ; Focus Groups*; Humans ; Ontario ; Qualitative Research ; Health Personnel/psychology ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Female ; Male
    • Abstract:
      Background: Primary health care (PHC) teams contributed to all phases of the COVID-19 vaccination distribution. However, there has been criticism for not fully utilizing the expertise and infrastructure of PHC teams for vaccination distribution. Our study sought to understand the role PHC teams had in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario, Canada. The key objective informing this study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of interprofessional PHC teams in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccination across Ontario.
      Methods: A qualitative approach was used for this study, which involved 39 participants from the six health regions of the province. Eight focus groups were conducted with a range of interprofessional healthcare providers, administrators, and staff working in PHC teams across Ontario. The sample reflected a diverse range of clinical, administrative, and leadership roles in PHC. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed, while transcriptions were then analyzed using thematic analysis.
      Results: We identified the following four themes in the data: i) PHC teams know their patients; ii) mobilizing team capacity for vaccination, iii) intersectoral collaborations, and iv) operational challenges.
      Conclusions: PHC teams were an instrumental component in supporting COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario. The involvement of PHC in future vaccination efforts is key but requires additional resourcing and inclusion of PHC in decision-making. This will ensure provider well-being and maintain collaborations established during COVID-19 vaccination.
      Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
      (Copyright: © 2024 Ashcroft et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
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    • Accession Number:
      0 (COVID-19 Vaccines)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240610 Date Completed: 20240610 Latest Revision: 20240612
    • Publication Date:
      20240612
    • Accession Number:
      PMC11164373
    • Accession Number:
      10.1371/journal.pone.0304616
    • Accession Number:
      38857248