Have questions about vaccines for your child? A new phone line has answers
January 17, 2024
The Vaccine Consultation Service pilot project was launched by members of the Center for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD) and aims to increase confidence in vaccines by answering Ontario parents’ questions about vaccines. Masu.
Written by Ishani Nath
Canada is in the midst of respiratory disease season, but the number of people receiving the latest COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations remains low. Since the pandemic, the number of children receiving routine immunizations has also decreased.
For the past few years, questions about vaccines have dominated headlines and internet searches. Is this vaccine safe? Does it work? Who should get vaccinated?
Sean Morris and Pierre-Philippe Pichet Renaud, pediatric infectious disease physicians at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and members of the Center for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, We regularly treat various types of infections. Questions from parents and guardians.
To boost confidence in vaccination through easy access to reliable, evidence-based information, Morris and Pichet-Renault have launched a new pilot project that will run until the end of March. SickKids Vaccine Consultation Service (VCS)is part of a larger project funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to provide a telephone service staffed by nurses to answer caregiver questions about all childhood immunizations. The aim is to make vaccine information more accessible, ultimately allowing parents to make the best and most informed decisions for their children, Pichet-Renault explains.
(Photo: Canva)
Building on previous success
This pilot project builds on the success of the COVID-19 dedicated VCS phone line, which ran from October 2021 to March 2023. His COVID-19 VCS has received more than 2,700 calls from caregivers asking about COVID-19 vaccines for their children. A medical professional was always on call and provided information tailored to each individual’s situation, including their living situation and medical history. This is an answer you don’t usually get on the internet.
Nurses answering calls say they are trained to create an open and safe environment. Julia Orkin, is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Sciences and the medical lead for the SickKids COVID-19 VCS. “It was, you know, a collaborative conversation that was really shared, rather than, ‘You have to do this,'” she says. After her call, 83% of caregivers surveyed said their questions or concerns were resolved, and more than 60% said they would proceed with vaccination.
The new phone service expands beyond the COVID-19 VCS by answering questions about all pediatric immunizations, not just COVID-19 vaccines. The service is available to everyone in Ontario, with a particular focus on patients with pre-existing medical concerns and equally deserving populations across the Greater Toronto Area.
No internet or insurance is required to book a VCS Consulting appointment. Translation services are also available. Pichet Renaud explains that these conversations are meant to “take things one step at a time, meet parents where they are and address their concerns.”
Research shows that the amount of COVID-19 vaccine taken is lower Among certain groups, for example, certain racialized low-income populations. To reach these communities, Morris and Pichet Renaud are working with organizations such as: Black Creek Community Health Center, Taibu Community Health Center, and the Pediatric Alliance of Ontario. “Messages are conveyed through people such as: [caregivers in these communities] We already know and collaborate,” explains Pichet Renaud.
meet urgent needs
Providing information about the importance of childhood immunizations is particularly urgent now. “Immunization coverage against a wide range of diseases has been slow, leaving children vulnerable to completely preventable infections and outbreaks. Parents can make informed decisions for their children. “Providing clear, personalized messages from trusted sources is essential to enabling people to do their part,” said Shelley Bolotin, director of the Center for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD). states.
During the pandemic, routine childhood immunizations against preventable diseases such as meningitis, measles and polio have fallen to levels not seen since 2008. The proportion of Canadians who think vaccines are important for children also fell from 91 per cent to 82 per cent, the report said. UNICEF’s 2023 State of the World’s Children Report. Since then, the following cases have occurred in Canada: Whooping cough (whooping cough) and Other diseases that can be prevented by vaccines.
“There are still children who come to SickKids and other pediatric hospitals with vaccine-preventable diseases, such as certain types of meningitis,” Dr. Pichet Renault says. Doctors hope that through the VCS phone line and related projects working with pediatricians and patients at SickKids, they will be able to better understand why some children are not vaccinated. This information can be used to develop resources such as educational websites and improve access to vaccination sites.
Making trusted vaccine information more accessible
Morris and Pichet-Renaud encourage Ontario parents with questions about childhood vaccines to schedule a consultation. SickKids VCS website.
For Morris, helping patients and families make the best health decisions for themselves is one of the most important aspects of his job. Services like VCS phone lines can help achieve that goal by “enabling people to connect to trusted sources of information and cut through the morass of not-so-good information,” but this probably It is more common in the field of vaccination than in most fields.
