Parental views and the key role of nurses for high vaccine acceptance in Sweden – a focus group study
Appelqvist, Emma LU ; Danielsson, Madelene ; Jama, Asha ; Ask, Lina Schollin ; Stenhammar, Christina ; Lindstrand, Ann ; Riesbeck, Kristian LU
and Roth, Adam
LU
(2023)
In BMC Public Health
23(1).
- Abstract
Background: In Sweden, vaccine uptake is exceptionally high due to an efficient child immunization program. More than 97% of Swedish children were vaccinated at child health care centers (CHCs) according to the schedule at 2 years of age in 2021. From the age of 6 years, vaccinations are given within the school health care. Maintaining high vaccination coverage over time is one of the central motives to explore and understand drivers for vaccine acceptance. The current study aimed to assess parental vaccine acceptance concerning the national immunization program and explore factors contributing to the high vaccine acceptance in Sweden. Methods: Parents of children aged 1–2 years and 8–12 years were recruited through purposive sampling... (More)
Background: In Sweden, vaccine uptake is exceptionally high due to an efficient child immunization program. More than 97% of Swedish children were vaccinated at child health care centers (CHCs) according to the schedule at 2 years of age in 2021. From the age of 6 years, vaccinations are given within the school health care. Maintaining high vaccination coverage over time is one of the central motives to explore and understand drivers for vaccine acceptance. The current study aimed to assess parental vaccine acceptance concerning the national immunization program and explore factors contributing to the high vaccine acceptance in Sweden. Methods: Parents of children aged 1–2 years and 8–12 years were recruited through purposive sampling and asked to participate in focus groups held in three cities in Sweden, in February and March 2019. In total, 47 parents participated in two focus groups per city, one session for parents of younger (1–2 years) and older (8–12 years) children respectively. The focus group discussions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Parents of children aged 1–2 years expressed the themes; strong compliance to and protection of the value of vaccinations; parents feel safe with an attentive relationship with their nurse; the spectrum of communication needs is essential to meet. For parents to children aged 8–12 years, the themes expressed were; vaccinate to do good for the individual and society; a foundation of trust is built at CHCs for decisions later on; decisions for vaccination become more complex as children get older; communication changes as children get older and need to be explicit and tailored to the situation. Conclusion: Both individual and societal perspectives were shown to influence the vaccination decision for childhood immunizations, as manifested in parental reflections and experiences. As nurses have a key role, it is important to provide them with continued support and tools to facilitate their support for parents in making informed decisions. Continuous work for supporting driving factors for vaccination over time is needed to maintain high vaccine acceptance in Sweden.
(Less)
- author
- Appelqvist, Emma
LU
; Danielsson, Madelene
; Jama, Asha
; Ask, Lina Schollin
; Stenhammar, Christina
; Lindstrand, Ann
; Riesbeck, Kristian
LU
and Roth, Adam
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Childhood vaccinations, National immunization program, Vaccine acceptance
- in
- BMC Public Health
- volume
- 23
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 1786
- publisher
- BioMed Central (BMC)
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:37710197
- scopus:85171348470
- ISSN
- 1471-2458
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12889-023-16678-5
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a8263d5e-a428-47d8-9ee6-45f6519451ca
- date added to LUP
- 2023-12-05 14:16:54
- date last changed
- 2024-04-18 10:14:37
@article{a8263d5e-a428-47d8-9ee6-45f6519451ca,
abstract = {{<p>Background: In Sweden, vaccine uptake is exceptionally high due to an efficient child immunization program. More than 97% of Swedish children were vaccinated at child health care centers (CHCs) according to the schedule at 2 years of age in 2021. From the age of 6 years, vaccinations are given within the school health care. Maintaining high vaccination coverage over time is one of the central motives to explore and understand drivers for vaccine acceptance. The current study aimed to assess parental vaccine acceptance concerning the national immunization program and explore factors contributing to the high vaccine acceptance in Sweden. Methods: Parents of children aged 1–2 years and 8–12 years were recruited through purposive sampling and asked to participate in focus groups held in three cities in Sweden, in February and March 2019. In total, 47 parents participated in two focus groups per city, one session for parents of younger (1–2 years) and older (8–12 years) children respectively. The focus group discussions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Parents of children aged 1–2 years expressed the themes; strong compliance to and protection of the value of vaccinations; parents feel safe with an attentive relationship with their nurse; the spectrum of communication needs is essential to meet. For parents to children aged 8–12 years, the themes expressed were; vaccinate to do good for the individual and society; a foundation of trust is built at CHCs for decisions later on; decisions for vaccination become more complex as children get older; communication changes as children get older and need to be explicit and tailored to the situation. Conclusion: Both individual and societal perspectives were shown to influence the vaccination decision for childhood immunizations, as manifested in parental reflections and experiences. As nurses have a key role, it is important to provide them with continued support and tools to facilitate their support for parents in making informed decisions. Continuous work for supporting driving factors for vaccination over time is needed to maintain high vaccine acceptance in Sweden.</p>}},
author = {{Appelqvist, Emma and Danielsson, Madelene and Jama, Asha and Ask, Lina Schollin and Stenhammar, Christina and Lindstrand, Ann and Riesbeck, Kristian and Roth, Adam}},
issn = {{1471-2458}},
keywords = {{Childhood vaccinations; National immunization program; Vaccine acceptance}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
series = {{BMC Public Health}},
title = {{Parental views and the key role of nurses for high vaccine acceptance in Sweden – a focus group study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16678-5}},
doi = {{10.1186/s12889-023-16678-5}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2023}},
}