Behavioural and social science research opportunities

Incorporating behavioural insights into health policies, interventions and systems has helped reduce injuryrelated mortality, improve adherence to medications and reduce tobacco use.1 Nevertheless, health practitioners and policy-makers sometimes overlook behaviourally informed and focused approaches. For instance, early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention efforts in the United States of America relied on best-case modelling scenarios, which assumed widespread adoption of preventive behaviours like face-mask use. Despite compulsory facemask mandates, behavioural adoption was slow; once vaccines were available, officials then focused on vaccine uptake. Adequate vaccine uptake, in turn, depends on incorporating behavioural insights to address vaccine hesitancy. Indeed, vaccine administration, and not vaccines alone, is needed to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Voluntary vaccine uptake requires creating an enabling environment based on trust, working with social influencers and respected opinion leaders to model vaccine uptake, and providing appropriate motivation such as vaccine passports that facilitate travel, among other actions. While incorporation of behavioural insights into health policies, interventions and systems is gaining momentum, challenges remain. Here we describe three challenges in behavioural and social science research that hamper the integration of behavioural insights and we highlight opportunities for addressing them.