Fear And Communication Paper

Although the negative claims behind anti-immunization stances are deceptive and discredited, some parents find it difficult to accept that vaccines are necessary and safe. Many of these reasons are due to personal or religious beliefs that have persuaded parents to bypass immunizations for their children. Consequently, health officials are seeing disquieting rises of diseases that are easily preventable. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported hundreds of measles cases in the United States in 2011, the largest number in 15 years (Ben-Joseph, Elana). Essentially, almost all of these cases were in individuals who had not received a vaccine shot. Also found in the article was that a great amount of the quarrel over the shots comes from a 1998 study that tried to connect autism to a type of vaccine that defends against measles. However, there has been no scientific evidence that a vaccine or a combination of any of the shots induces autism. Undoubtedly, the doctor that wrote the article, calling vaccines a “deliberate fraud” ,lost his license for not submitting any evidence of his claim and causing people to neglect shots for that year. Sadly, due to that article, 1 in 4 parents still believe that vaccines are

People in the United States are urged from day one that vaccinations are important for the well being of their children and for everyone that your child may come in contact with. Recently, childhood vaccinations have been stigmatized as a negative process. Parents have become increasingly concerned about the effects and side effects of vaccinations. The problem being, that the infectious diseases that are being prevented for, are being forgotten about. Vaccinations have been doing their job in protecting us for so long that the infectious diseases are less scary than vaccination process itself (Austvoll-Dahlgren & Helseth, 2012, p. 271). Vaccinations are a preventative measure and one that will continue to be implemented in children for their individual safety and for the safety of the public. However, it is still the families’ choice whether or not they want to proceed with the vaccination process or not. Most vaccinations are going to be administered by a registered nurse, therefore, it is the role of the nurse to supply information, and answer questions when counseling families through this process. The goal is to make people feel as comfortable and as informed as possible so that they can make a decision on whether to submit to the vaccination process or not.

Controversy concerning the risks of vaccinations will always exist. As is the nature of a preventative intervention, it is difficult to rationalize giving a completely healthy child an injection that is known to have varying degrees of sides affects5. Additionally, these injections are to provide immunity to children for diseases that have an extremely low risk of circulating within a population. Since these vaccines have been able to protect so many individuals from experiencing these dangerous infections, most parents do not even have personal experiences regarding the impact of these diseases. As such, many parents do not see the vaccine-preventable disease as a threat to their child. This often causes parents to not fully understand the risk their child has for contracting a disease and the subsequent danger of a vaccine-preventable disease infection verses the potential side effect of a vaccine which is normally only mild to moderate discomfort for their child15.

After much consideration, I have decided to research the controversy of childhood vaccinations and the risks associated with it. This issue has been brought up during my Biobehavioral Health (BBH) classes throughout my education. These classes have included: health promotion, public health, and epidemiology. The study of BBH can be described as an interdisciplinary program that enables students to explore all factors including: biological, behavioral, social/cultural, and environmental that influence the health of individuals and groups. In the BBH program, I have been able to view the topic of childhood vaccinations through the biological aspect of how they work, the behavioral and cultural aspect as to how individuals react to vaccinations,

Throughout The Vaccine War, the particular theory exemplified on the human behavior is Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Cognitive Dissonance Theory is a notion created by Leon Festinger that disputes that dissonance is an awkward feeling that encourages people to take action to diminish it. This theory is composed of two components: cognitions and cognitive dissonance. Cognitions are defined as, “ways of knowing,

METHODS: A search using PubMed, EBSCO, and Google scholar sources, academic textbooks, and some governmental agencies sites such as CDC and WHO will be utilized in order to better understand the topic and gain insights about the research that was performed. Articles were analyzed to better understand the cognitive process regarding vaccination rejection.

There are many different opinions on the topic of vaccinating children and adults. These various opinions can originate or develop from heritage, environment, and social media. Social media has an immense impact on people and their decision to vaccinate. Many websites contain explanations on why or why not to vaccinate. The web pages that are against vaccinating typically only state the harmful consequences that can occur from immunizations. On the opposing side, the web pages that are for vaccinating explain the pros of immunizations. In an article, it states, “Sometimes we are confused by the messages in the media” (“Why Immunize,” 2014). This shows that the many varying views of this topic can bewilder people on their decision to vaccinate

Many parents stress over the choice of deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children. The reason why deciding to vaccinate children is so difficult is due to the wide range of myths and side effects that are connected with vaccinations. Myths spread to parents all over the United States that the diseases don’t even exist anymore, rumors of vaccinations weakening a child’s immune system, and the risk of a child becoming autistic due to thimerisol in vaccinations. Side effects also scare parents out of getting their children vaccinated like brain damage, seizures, or allergic reactions, but then parents are pulled back to the thought of the possibility of

The intended purpose of this presentation is to provide facts and scientific research that persuades the audience members regarding the use of vaccinations. My intention is that the audience will support the use of vaccinations and consider the facts before making decisions that affect the entire community. My central idea is that inaccurate data exists with regards to vaccination; instead, that vaccinations should be viewed as essential for protection of society, both from extreme illness as well as life threatening, and sometimes fatal, diseases.

To get vaccinated or to not get vaccinated is a very important issue that is now back on the rise. The target group for this paper would be young mothers and college aged adults. The purpose of this paper is to describe and demonstrate how the Health Belief model can be used to teach a person the importance of vaccinating themselves and their children. As a new, young parent many people do not know the benefits of vaccines and they don’t understand the harm they put themselves and their child in if they remain unvaccinated.

Vaccines save lives; fear endangers them. Vaccinations have been used since the 18th century to cure various deadly diseases, from smallpox to the influenza virus. On a global level, vaccination is one of the few cost-effective medical measures that result in universal benefit. Yet there have always been those opposed to vaccinations because of possible side effects. With the increase in technology and the ability to share ideas in modern society the anti vaccine movement has flourished making the eradication of disease and safety of the public a difficult task. The anti-vaccine movement in the United States is one which brings about a very serious issue of safety. Vaccinations are put in place to protect people; they are administered by trained professionals who weigh the costs and benefits of vaccines. Yet there are still people out there who refuse to be vaccinated out of fear and therefore decide for themselves the effectiveness of vaccines. In order to ensure a safe society the public needs to be educated about vaccine in order to make a truly informed decision.

The articles “Cognitive Processes and the Decisions of Some Parents to Forego Pertussis Vaccination for Their Children” by J. Meszaros, D. Asch, J. Baron, J. Hershey, H. Kunreuther, and J. Schwartz-Buzaglo; “Illusion of Control: The Role of Personal Involvement” by Ion Yarritu, Helena Matute, and Miguel A. Vadillo; and “Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children” by Douglas S. Diekema help to describe the relationship between non-vaccinating parents and pediatricians, and the cognitive biases that run this relationship. One question addressed in the article “Cognitive Processes and the Decisions of Some Parents to Forego Pertussis Vaccination for Their Children” is, “What are the factors leading up to a parent deciding that they will not vaccinate their children?” (Meszaros, Asch, Baron, Hershey, Kunreuther, & Schwartz-Buzaglo, 1996) This question is expanded upon further in “Illusion of Control: The Role of Personal Involvement” (Yarritu, Matute, & Vadillo, 2014) and “Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children.” (Diekema, 2005) The question that connects these three papers, and the question that must be answered, is “What are the cognitive biases that dictate the likelihood of a parent vaccinating their child, and how can pediatricians be more aware of and attempt to rectify these biases?”

Specific Purpose: My specific purpose is to convince my audience that everyone should get vaccinations.

To the average individual, the word ‘vaccination’ means to prevent illness. Vaccinations have many advantages; they allow us to be less susceptible to a variety of illnesses and diseases. Many individuals believe that vaccinations should not be mandatory. However, the benefits from vaccinations greatly outweigh the risks from side effects. The judgments are factual and ethical and are supported by testing and research findings from multiple sources.

The number of individuals who are unvaccinated or infected in the United States has increased (Sun). Vaccines recommended for children are crucial and result in fewer health risks and greater healthy lifestyles. Proponents agree that vaccines are safe and effective, while opponents disagree and believe that vaccines create more negative outcomes than positive ("Should Any Vaccines..."). Opponents attempt to influence and persuade the majority of individuals to stray away from their viewpoints relating to the encouragement of vaccinating children. The rising percentage of children and parents who reject immunization and protest safe vaccines indicate less triumph for sufficient immunization for the population. There are many detrimental risks that affect unvaccinated children, and supporting childhood vaccinations profoundly benefits each parent and child.