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Public Health · Jamaica
Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Jamaica.
In 2021, Dervin led a behaviour change communication campaign addressing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in Jamaica, funded by The Commonwealth Fund in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Television, radio and social-media content combined familiar conversations with trusted medical voices to answer concerns and support informed decisions. Explore the audience insights, creative strategy and production process behind the campaign, followed by related public-health communication work.
Selected campaigns from Dervin’s professional practice before DASTPO’s launch. His role and the relevant programme partners are identified below.
Case studyCampaign: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Campaign
Making room for questions. Creating space for trust.
- Year
- 2021
- Funder
- The Commonwealth Fund
- Collaborating institution
- Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness
- Role
- Campaign Lead
The challenge
Jamaica’s history of routine vaccination did not translate into the same confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. Conflicting information and misinformation circulating globally were also shaping local conversations, leaving many people uncertain about what to believe.
The audience data Dervin used identified distinct patterns of hesitancy, including among young people, people from religious backgrounds and older men. These findings shaped a campaign that recognised different concerns, sources of influence and media habits.
The insight that shaped the campaign
Listening revealed that some people described as vaccine hesitant were overwhelmed by information and lacked a trusted place to verify it. Their questions needed to be heard and answered clearly.
The campaign made reliable information approachable through familiar conversations, recognisable people and trusted medical voices, helping audiences examine common misconceptions without feeling judged.
Dervin’s role
Dervin led the campaign from concept through final production. He translated audience research and listening into the communication approach, developed the creative concept and storyboards, recruited the cast, managed the production company and coordinated with the Ministry of Health and Wellness team. He also oversaw editing, ensuring that the finished materials reflected the intended messages, audiences and approach.
The six-dot approach in practice
The decisions behind the campaign.
See how the DASTPO approach was applied to the development and execution of this campaign.
01Listen
Hear the uncertainty behind the hesitation.
Listening revealed the questions beneath people’s reluctance: what they had heard, what concerned them and where they could turn for a trusted explanation. These conversations shaped a tone that acknowledged uncertainty and made asking questions feel legitimate.
02Understand
Use evidence to identify who to reach and how.
Dervin used audience data to identify priority groups and their media habits. Online channels could reach younger audiences encountering vaccine claims. Television offered a route to older viewers, while radio connected with everyday conversations across Jamaica. Research indicating that Jamaicans trusted doctors’ advice informed the choice of messengers.
03Design
Make the message familiar and relevant.
The television advertisement centred on a young man with locs gently correcting his father’s misconception. His presence represented youth and men, while offering a point of recognition for some Rastafarian viewers. A well-known comedian played the father, bringing familiarity for older audiences. Showing him listening to his son made openness to correction part of a warm family exchange. Social videos took a direct approach: asking doctors common vaccine questions and allowing them to explain the answers.
04Connect
Bring creative communication and public-health authority together.
With funding from The Commonwealth Fund, Dervin identified an opportunity to collaborate with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness. The Ministry welcomed the support. Its involvement added institutional authority and credibility, alongside the familiarity of the cast and the expertise of doctors.
05Deliver
Create content suited to different audiences.
The campaign included a television advertisement, social-media videos featuring doctors and radio advertisements. Television used representation and conversation to make a misconception recognisable. Social videos offered clear medical explanations, and radio extended the communication through another familiar medium. Dervin managed the creative and production process through final editing.
06Amplify
Meet audiences through the channels they use.
The distribution approach combined online and traditional media. Social media brought answers into spaces where vaccine claims were circulating, while television and radio broadened the opportunity to reach people. Across the formats, the intention was consistent: make credible answers easier to access and create space to reconsider misleading information.
The thinking behind the work
Audience evidence, listening, cultural awareness and creative judgment shaped the campaign. Decisions about who appeared, how they spoke and where the content would be shared served the same purpose: helping people feel represented, respected and able to ask questions.
Explore the campaign.
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Social media PSA 01
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Social media PSA 02
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Broadcast PSA
Radio campaign
Taking the campaign beyond the screen.
Radio advertisements extended the vaccine communication campaign through a familiar and widely accessible medium.
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Dervin radio advertisement
02
Cavan radio advertisement
Campaign resultsInformation and trust.
Results and partner response
Sustained access to public-health information
The campaign combined prime-time television advertising with two months of social-media promotion. The television advertisement aired for more than two months, providing repeated opportunities for audiences to encounter information addressing common vaccine concerns.
Positive feedback on clarity and trusted messengers
Comments observed on the social-media videos indicated that viewers appreciated having their questions answered in clear, accessible language. Viewers also welcomed doctors explaining the issues directly, supporting the campaign’s approach of pairing common questions with trusted medical voices.
Partner confidence and interest in continued promotion
Feedback from the Ministry of Health and Wellness and The Commonwealth Fund was positive. Partner conversations indicated appreciation of the campaign’s value and interest in further promotional work.
Project 02Campaign
UNAIDS Jamaica · 2018
Promoting condom use and young people’s sexual and reproductive health rights.
Dervin led the overall development of a UNAIDS Jamaica public-awareness campaign designed to promote condom use and strengthen awareness of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
His role covered the full creative and production process, including conceptualisation, storyboarding, casting and editing. He also worked closely with UNAIDS and its partners to interpret the organisation’s theme and determine how its central message could be represented in ways that were relevant to Jamaican audiences.
The campaign resulted in four character-led videos created to bring the message into recognisable settings and conversations.
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Ainsley
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Classroom
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Footballer
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Hustle
Project 03Animation
USAID · Health Connect Jamaica
Using animation to make PrEP information more accessible.
Dervin created this animated public-health video for USAID to promote awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP.
The piece translates an important HIV-prevention message into a concise visual format, demonstrating how animation can make technical health information easier to understand, remember and share with wider audiences.
Animated explainer