FA16 Immunization Module’s Updates

Social/public policy hurdles for generating and administering vaccines

Does health literacy make a difference in parental preferences for childhood vaccination decisions?

Health literacy is the ability of patients to find, understand, and use health-related information to make good decisions about their medical care and health. Because children cannot make these decisions regarding vaccinations for themselves, I believe that the significance of health literacy for parents is greatly magnified. Unfortunately, as we learned during our last FCM session, low health literacy is much more common than we realize. Studies show that about one third of American adults have limited health literacy and this rate is even greater in certain population subgroups, such as older adults and some ethnic minorities.

Finding information about vaccines is not difficult because there is so much information online that is easily accessible. For example, the CDC website alone has a wealth of information directed towards parents, adults, and even healthcare providers. (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html) Through these various links, anyone can learn about vaccination requirements, how vaccines work, why they are safe, and so much more. However, I believe that the issue of health literacy regarding vaccinations arises from the ability of parents to understand the wealth of information available to them and how to use it.

Take the following link as an example:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/vaccine-decision/index.html

The numerous links lead to more links, which lead to even longer chunks of information, can be overwhelming for anyone to thoroughly sift through. As future healthcare providers, we need to be cognizant of the significance of health literacy in medicine. While many of us consider vaccinations a no-brainer decision, we must take the time to effectively communicate with and educate our patients. 

 

Other sources:

How to Bridge the Health Literacy Gap by Dr. Barry Weiss, MD

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/2014/0100/p14.html

  • Aubrey Graham
  • Luis R. Tinoco Garcia Luis