The authors advise primary care physicians and nurses not to break off relationships with parents that decline vaccines, citing the "critical role clinicians can play in explaining the benefits of immunization and addressing parental perceptions and concerns about its risks."
The attitudes of physicians and nurses overlap with and have an influence on the families they serve, the authors say. Research shows primary care providers for unvaccinated children were less likely to have confidence in vaccine safety and vaccines' benefits. In focus groups, parents who were uncertain about vaccinating their children were still open to discussions with clinicians.
The authors note an emerging trend for parents to delay rather than omit vaccination for their children, a phenomenon whose consequences could include exacerbation of health inequities.
Source-Eurekalert
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