What is it?

The “Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine concerns among people who are incarcerated” (ADVANCE) study involved COVID-19 vaccine research among people in Provincial Correctional Centres in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

The main objectives were:

1. To better understand the concerns that people incarcerated in BC Provincial Correctional Centres had with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.
2. To determine the drivers of concerns that people incarcerated in BC Provincial Correctional Centres had with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.
3. To determine if structural barriers may limit people incarcerated in BC Provincial Correctional Centres from being vaccinated against COVID-19 infection.
4. Co-design COVID-19 vaccine educational resources with people with lived and living experience of incarceration.
5. Determine how effective education on COVID-19 vaccines that is co-designed by people with lived and living experience of incarceration is at addressing these concerns, when deployed BC Provincial Correctional Centres.

The ADVANCE Study was an integrated knowledge translation project using participatory health research approaches of emergent design. Through this iterative and collaborative process, we co-created strategies to enhance education on and confidence in COVID-19 vaccines specifically for people who experience incarceration.