“Collective Responsibility”

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The main idea:

“As a society, we have a responsibility to the common good—which translates into a shared duty to ensure everyone has access to immunization services.”

When to use this issue frame:

• Lead with an explicit appeal to our responsibility to the common good in public-facing communications.
• In 1:1 vaccine counseling, collective responsibility can be a supplementary message, but it shouldn’t be your opener or primary framing of why to accept a vaccine.

Practical suggestions for use:

• Make the story about our shared responsibility to ensure widespread access to immunization services—not a civic duty to get vaccinated.
• Stay positive and aspirational. Talk about the responsibility as one we can meet.
• Avoid wording that suggests you are scolding the audience. It’s good to give examples of barriers to access, but don’t make blanket statements about how we are “failing” in our responsibility. Take care with should and must.
• You can vary your wording. Use synonyms for collective responsibility, like shared duty or obligation to society.
• Show the benefits of fulfilling our responsibility. For example, you can say, “When we make it convenient and affordable for high numbers of kids to keep up with recommended immunizations, we protect entire schools, sports teams, and communities from outbreaks of diseases that take kids away from learning, playing, and growing.”

To learn more about the research behind this value frame, see Reframing the Conversation about Child and Adolescent Vaccinations.

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