Pearce-Ings

The art of persuasion

Publish date: November 29, 2016

With the advent of the Internet, many parents and teen patients come in armed with information and sometimes even a diagnosis. Much of our time is spent dispelling falsehoods that were posted on the Internet or clarifying information that was misinterpreted. Although generally more information is a good thing, too much false information can result in limiting health care.

Vaccine administration has suffered significantly because of this. With a simple Google search, you can find articles that do everything just short of proving that vaccines are harmful, and tear-jerking stories about children who were harmed by the administration of vaccines. Many sites – Vaxtruth.org, healthwyze.org, naturalnews.com – all present convincing data that would scare any concerned parent to not vaccinate their child. So how do medical professionals regain the trust of their parents and/or patients?

Dr. Francine Pearce

As pediatricians, we are faced with these questions daily, and we are forced to be the spokespersons for vaccine safety. We are at the mercy of the validity of the research presented and the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics to advise our clientele on keeping their children healthy, so it is important to be an effective communicator.

The strategies put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for talking to parents about vaccines begin with listening.¹ Many parents come with fears that are unfounded and unrealistic that can simply be discussed and resolved. Others present with information from the Internet that discourages vaccines or life experiences such as another family member who was thought to be harmed by vaccines; this discussion is more complex.

It is imperative to become familiar with the most popular information sources on the Internet so that you can speak directly to the validity of the source. As well, countering with a more reliable source will substantiate your position. Healthychildren.org² is an excellent reference for the AAP recommendations and further references. Vaccinesafety.edu is an independent source that reviews vaccine safety and current research.

^{Joseph Abbott/Thinkstock}

Encouraging parents to ask questions and continuing dialogue helps parents to feel empowered about making decisions for their children. When parents feel that their concerns have been addressed, their trust builds, and a partnership forms.^1,3Just because a parent refuses vaccines on the first meeting doesn’t mean that with continued conversation they won’t change their mind.

Being proactive also builds trust. Provide families with the list of ingredients (vaccinesafety.edu), what their role is in keeping vaccines safe (tell them to go to cdc.gov and search under “vaccines for parents”), and help them understand how vaccines work. Parents then see that you are well informed and are passionate about the health of their children. The AAP provides physicians with a tool kit for the HPV vaccine, and the CDC has an HPV tipsheet entitled “Addressing Parents’ Top Questions about HPV Vaccine” that gives suggestions for what you can say or that can save you time if you provide it while the family waits to be seen.

Probably the most important strategy is believing in what you’re doing. No matter what you’re promoting, if you truly believe in it, then you will encourage others to believe in it as well. This requires educating yourself on current research and recommendations, as well as what is being reported in the news so you can be armed with factual data when parents have questions.

Today, health care is a partnership, and we must embrace our role as educators to empower patients to make good choices for themselves as well as their families.