Improving Uptake of Pediatric Vaccines Through Religious Conferences and Vaccines-in-a-van in Aceh, Indonesia

NCT ID: NCT06160999

Last Updated: 2026-01-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 2400 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-12-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this cluster, randomized controlled trial is to study the impact of mobile vaccine clinics and religious conferences on pediatric vaccination coverage. The main questions will be: does vaccination coverage change in geographic areas with the mobile vaccine clinics vs those areas without mobile vaccine clinics; and does vaccination coverage change in geographic areas with religious conferences on vaccination vs those areas without religious conferences. In repeated surveys, adult participants will respond about their children's vaccination status. Participants will not be individually randomized to the interventions. Rather, their geographical area will be randomized.

Detailed Description

This project seeks to create a paradigm shift in how the public views and utilizes vaccination services. Currently, community health centers remain the default setting for vaccination, and clinicians the default administrators. However, the general population may have difficulty accessing these clinics or trusting traditional vaccination providers, particularly if they are members of marginalized communities that have experienced medical discrimination. This project applies a two-pronged approach by addressing issues of trust and ease of access among the general population. This project is innovative by: a) mobilizing religious communities to discuss vaccines (to counter reported lack of information about vaccines among unvaccinated families) and b) training more community health workers in vaccination and in physically delivering vaccines through a "Vaccine-in-a-van" concept to facilitate ease in accessing vaccines. By mobilizing these individuals in the community settings where people live, work, worship, and learn, this project will expand vaccine information and services.

More specifically, this project plans to work with local health leaders in a low vaccination community in Aceh, Indonesia to identify social institutions that are part of children and families' daily lives; these could include houses of worship, schools, or community centers. This project will fund a mobile vaccine delivery unit to go to these locations to physically bring vaccines to the people and to link them with existing immunization clinic infrastructure. This project will also work towards changing the culture of child health and vaccination through substantial discussions and conversations with multiple levels of religious leaders at conferences.

Conditions

Vaccination

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Religious Conference

Clusters will have religious conference.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Religious conferences

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The conference will invite local subdistrict-level imams and other religious leaders, along with a range of community health workers, including those not traditionally trained to give vaccines. During the conference there will be some sessions with everyone, and some that are broken down by profession. The conference topics will be developed in conjunction with the religious leaders, but will focus on the importance of infant health

Religious Conference control

Clusters will have not religious conference. Clusters' background characteristics matched to the Conference arm.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Vaccine-in-a-van

Clusters will have deployment of a mobile vaccine clinic ("vaccine-in-a-van").

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Vaccine-in-a-van

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

For the vaccine-in-a-van concept, our community health worker will travel to different areas in the test subdistricts. These locations will be decided on in conjunction with the local health department and the research team's knowledge of the area. We will target areas which would have families with young children, particularly: schools, mosques, and sports fields. The purpose of the van will be to bring vaccines to the community, but also to put a human face (our community health worker) to vaccines outside of a clinical setting.

Vaccine-in-a-van control

Clusters will not have a deployment of a mobile vaccine clinic ("vaccine-in-a-van"). Clusters' background characteristics matched to the Van arm.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Religious conferences

The conference will invite local subdistrict-level imams and other religious leaders, along with a range of community health workers, including those not traditionally trained to give vaccines. During the conference there will be some sessions with everyone, and some that are broken down by profession. The conference topics will be developed in conjunction with the religious leaders, but will focus on the importance of infant health

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Vaccine-in-a-van

For the vaccine-in-a-van concept, our community health worker will travel to different areas in the test subdistricts. These locations will be decided on in conjunction with the local health department and the research team's knowledge of the area. We will target areas which would have families with young children, particularly: schools, mosques, and sports fields. The purpose of the van will be to bring vaccines to the community, but also to put a human face (our community health worker) to vaccines outside of a clinical setting.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults 18+, and
• Proficient in Bahasa Indonesia, and
• Plan to live in neighborhood for next year
• Parent of child <5, or
• Planning to have a child within next year

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Michigan

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Abram Wagner

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Research Assistant Professor, Global Public Health, School of Public Health

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Abram Wagner, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Michigan

Locations

Universitas Syiah Kuala

Banda Aceh, Special Region of Aceh, Indonesia

Countries

Indonesia

References

Ladhania R, Ichsan I, Koumpias AM, Yufika A, Indah R, Liansyah TM, Wagner AL, Harapan H. Improving uptake of pediatric vaccines through religious conferences and mobile vaccine clinics in Aceh, Indonesia (TABRIE): study protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2025 Nov 21;26(1):528. doi: 10.1186/s13063-025-09170-5.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 41272880 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

HUM00235620

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id