Abstract
Vaccine hesitancy-the reluctance to receive recommended vaccination because of concerns and doubts about vaccines-is recognized as a significant threat to the success of vaccination programs and has been associated with recent major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Moreover, the association between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and vaccine hesitancy and/or refusal has been frequently reported in the literature. To date, significant gaps persist in our understanding of contemporary Canadian CAM providers' beliefs regarding vaccination and how socio-professional influences may shape their vaccine-related attitudes and behaviours. To address the latter gap, the current study aims to explore the content of professional guidelines, recommendations and other discourses among CAM providers as they concern vaccination by analyzing both academic, peer-reviewed literature and Canadian organizational webpages prepared by and/or for practicing chiropractors, naturopaths and homeopaths. In the academic literature, we identified a number of complex and diverging views on vaccination that spanned topics of effectiveness; safety; theoretical, empirical, and ethical soundness; political justifiability; and compatibility with CAM philosophy and professional boundaries. However, in its current state the CAM literature cannot be described in broad strokes as being either pro- or anti-vaccination without considering finer areas of disagreement. Compared to the academic literature, which focuses more on the conceptual and evidentiary basis of vaccination, a greater proportion of vaccine-related content on Canadian CAM organizations' webpages seems to be dedicated to offering specific directives and prescriptions to providers. Guidelines and standards of practice address a number of issues, including vaccine administration, counsel, education and marketing. As CAM organizations further evolve in Canada and elsewhere as part of a broader "professionalization" initiative, greater attention will need to be directed at their role in shaping providers' beliefs and practices that both support and undermine vaccine promotion efforts.
Highlights
Vaccination, and childhood vaccines in particular, have had a major impact on improved survival in the past 100 years, second only to sanitation and clean water in number of lives saved [1]
To answer our research question (How is the topic of vaccination addressed in Canadian chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic organization guidelines/recommendations and academic literature?), we performed a “conventional” qualitative content analysis of vaccinerelated information contained in both peer-reviewed complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)-targeted academic literature and public, organizational webpages for Canadian CAM providers
The order in which we present our findings reflects the assumption that regulations and/or recommendations posed by professional organizations shape individual providers’ practice, but not necessarily in uniform ways. We first detail these professional regulations and recommendations before describing vaccine-related information reported by authors in the CAM literature, offering readers an indication of the variability in how individual CAM providers may endorse or comply with regulatory influences
Summary
Vaccination, and childhood vaccines in particular, have had a major impact on improved survival in the past 100 years, second only to sanitation and clean water in number of lives saved [1]. Vaccine decision-making is influenced by a number of structural and environmental factors, such as accessibility, convenience and quality of vaccination services [5]. It is heavily determined by psychosocial factors, like risk perceptions [6] and social norms [7]. Vaccine hesitancy–the reluctance to receive recommended vaccination because of concerns and doubts about vaccines [8]–is recognized as a significant threat to the success of vaccination programs and has been associated with recent major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases [9, 10]. The World Health Organization [11] has identified vaccine hesitancy as one of ten threats to global health
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
