Record Details
Vaccine beliefs of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) providers in Oregon
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Vaccine beliefs of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) providers in Oregon |
| Names |
Bean, Sandra J.
(creator) Catania, Joseph A. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 2014-05-21 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 2014 |
| Abstract | Health care providers, including complementary and alternative medical (CAM) practitioners, exert a significant influence on parental pediatric vaccination decisions. Use of CAM therapies is increasing in Oregon. Concomitantly, there has been a decade-long increase in parental vaccine refusal in Oregon, rising from 1 to 5 percent from 2000-2009. For example, in some Oregon schools, 70% of children are unvaccinated. I conducted hour-long interviews with 36 practitioners from five CAM modalities (i.e., acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, midwifery, and naturopathy) to explore a range of associations between vaccination perceptions and vaccine recommendations to others. Data collected from the semi-structured interviews were sorted and analyzed by themes. Perceived susceptibility to and severity of either an illness or a vaccine as well as perceptions of vaccine efficacy, benefits, and risks influenced CAM provider vaccine recommendations to parents about vaccinating their children. The contextual factors of immunology beliefs, personal experience, reference group norms, and beliefs about industry and government were found to a lesser extent to influence whether a CAM provider promoted or opposed pediatric vaccination. The results of this research suggest possible interventions aimed at improving scientific knowledge of vaccine science as well as addressing hesitancy to vaccinate. These interventions could include communicating the relative risk of vaccinations; providing training for mainstream medical providers in empathic communication with patients and avoiding a directive, fact-laden model; and developing a layered approach to vaccine education, with specific content aimed at separate populations, including health care providers, journalists, policy makers, parents, educators, and children. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | pediatric |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/48896 |
