On Vaccines and Parents Refusing to Vaccinate

[deirdre]

Fascinating article about vaccines, parents who don't want to vaccinate their kids, and the evolution of the issue.

Rachel Casiday, a medical anthropologist at the Centre for Integrated Health Care Research at Durham University, UK, who studied British parents' attitudes toward MMR, says scientists should not underestimate the importance of narrative. People relate much more to a dramatic story—“he got his vaccination, he stopped interacting, and he hasn't been the same since”—than they do to facts, risk analyses, and statistical studies. “If you discount these stories, people think you have an ulterior motive or you're not taking them seriously,” she explains. Casiday suggests providing an alternative, science-based explanation or relating emotionally compelling tales about counter-risk—such as helplessly watching a young child die of a vaccine-preventable disease—in the same narrative format.