Which communicative strategies do Slovak pediatricians choose to facilitate parental decision-making about childhood vaccination?

Abstract

One of the most common factors underlying delaying or refusing childhood vaccination are concerns about vaccine safety. Parents often struggle with conflicting information about their adverse effects, vaccine-preventable diseases, and also with emotions such as fear or distress. Pediatricians are in a privileged position to facilitate parental decision-making related to vaccination, but can also tip hesitant parents towards vaccine refusal, especially if they do not communicate effectively. This qualitative study explores the decision-making processes of Slovak pediatricians in choosing communication strategies facilitating parental decisions about vaccination. We conducted literature search to identify recommendations about effective and ineffective communication strategies related to childhood vaccination, as well as in-depth interviews with 15 pediatricians. The results show that pediatricians typically lack formal training in communication with parents, but use a large number of effective communicative strategies that they have acquired during their clinical experience. However, often these decisions are not being made explicitly, and some pediatricians struggle with specific situations and types of parents. We conclude that implementing formal communication training in relation to childhood vaccination would make pediatricians’ daily work more efficient and less emotionally taxing.

Keywords

• vaccination
• decision-making
• communication strategies
• vaccine-hesitant parents