How HCPs Can Talk About Vaccines to Parents and Adolescents

Back-to-School season is officially upon us. As school begins and the weather gets colder, the potential for infection spread increases, putting the spotlight on getting adolescents up-to-date on their vaccinations to keep their immunity boosted and their communities safe.

You may have experienced rising vaccine hesitancy in many communities, and the back-to-school tradition of getting vaccinated has, in some cases, been deprioritized. Aided by misinformation and disinformation present largely on social media, vaccine hesitancy has contributed to significant gaps in immunization coverage for adolescents. 

Back-to-School season presents an opportunity for healthcare providers (HCPs) to speak with their adolescent patients and their parents to address questions they may have about vaccines. Research has shown that parents are most trusting of vaccine recommendations and information that comes directly from their HCP. Questioning or uncertain families often rely on HCPs to deliver strong messages about the benefits of vaccines. In practice, however, research shows HCP recommendations can sometimes be unclear or inconsistent, sometimes attributable to confusion regarding updates to vaccination guidelines, communication challenges in relaying information specific to certain diseases and vaccines, and/or anticipation of parental hesitancy or refusal. 

To help strengthen HCP recommendations, Unity® Consortium developed the 3Cs, a simple, comprehensive educational program to demonstrate how HCPs can deliver Confident, Concise, and Consistent vaccine recommendations to adolescents and young adults.

The program equips HCPs with the tools and language to better navigate conversations about vaccines with parents and teens who express caution or hesitancy. It provides a research-based framework for making presumptive recommendations supported by simple motivational interviewing techniques. 

HCPs can view video vignettes displaying common scenarios that role model best practices for immunization-related conversations in healthcare settings. The site also provides a Q&A-style reference guide to address frequently asked parent and adolescent questions about vaccination and specific vaccines.

Click here to access the training program.

Providers and licensed professionals who complete Unity’s 3Cs training modules are eligible for CE/CME credit. By delivering confident, concise, and consistent vaccine recommendations this back-to-school season, HCPs can combat vaccine hesitancy and assist in closing widening adolescent immunization gaps.

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Samyukta Rao

Samyukta Rao

Samyukta is an Outreach and Development Intern with Unity Consortium. She assists with the development and execution of many of the organization's main operations and initiatives, and supports partnership development and engagement with Unity's member organizations.

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