{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T02:53:12Z","timestamp":1781751192607,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Otsuka Australia Pharmaceutical Pty Ltd.","award":["MA-003-TMP-OAP-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MA-003-TMP-OAP-01"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MPs"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Individuals living with mental illness face disproportionately higher COVID-19 morbidity and mortality than the general population. Despite their prioritisation in Australia\u2019s national vaccination rollout, vaccination rates among this population are significantly lower than those without mental illness. No previous study has employed a qualitative research paradigm to explore the barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination among people with mental illness in the Australian context. This qualitative study will employ Braun and Clarke\u2019s reflexive thematic analysis framework. Participants will be recruited through Western Health Mental Health and Wellbeing Services in Victoria, Australia. Semi-structured individual interviews will be conducted with approximately 17\u201320 participants (aged 18\u201365) who have a DSM-5 diagnosed mental illness and any experience (vaccinated or unvaccinated) with COVID-19 vaccination. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and then analysed and collated into themes using NVivo software. Code saturation will guide the final sample size. This study aims to produce a rich thematic map that captures the experience of individual, illness, and system-level barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination in this cohort. Findings are anticipated to inform targeted public health interventions to improve equitable vaccine uptake and contribute to closing the mortality gap for those with mental illness. This protocol has been approved by the Western Health Low Risk Ethics Panel (ERM ID: 113351).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mps9030099","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T02:10:16Z","timestamp":1781748616000},"page":"99","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Among Individuals with Mental Illness in the Australian Healthcare System: A Qualitative Study Protocol"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7329-8264","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Soumitra","family":"Das","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, Western Health, Melbourne 3021, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Killian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, Western Health, Melbourne 3021, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahesh","family":"Jayaram","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naveen","family":"Thomas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, Western Health, Melbourne 3021, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chi","family":"Jonasi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, Western Health, Melbourne 3021, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113856","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2021.113856","article-title":"A meta-analysis: The mortality and severity of COVID-19 among patients with mental disorders","volume":"299","author":"Toubasi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychiatry Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"444","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(20)30564-2","article-title":"COVID-19 vaccination for people with severe mental illness: Why, what, and how?","volume":"8","author":"Mazereel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dessie, Z.G., and Zewotir, T. 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