KEYWORDS:
Vaccines, immunizations, parents, health care providers,information, parental concerns

BACKGROUND:
Parents are faced with giving their infants vaccines to prevent 11 different diseases with as many as 20 individual injections. Information on immunizations is accessible to parents from print media, television, the Internet, friends, and family, as well as from their health care providers. Vaccine information found in many sources is not always accurate or positive which can raise parental concern. Information offered to parents by health care providers often uses terminology foreign to the average parent. The literature indicates parents look to their health care providers for information on immunizations. How the provider communicates with the parent often makes the difference in whether the parent accepts or rejects the recommended immunizations.

OBJECTIVE:
To obtain the consent of parents for the immunization of their infants health care providers need to convey vaccine information in a manner that is clear and concise in language and terms identifiable by the parent.

METHOD:
Various terminologies used to convey immunization information including the Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) will be discussed. Comparisons will be made between medical terminology and language more clearly recognized by parents. Examples for effective communication using appropriate language for parents will be given.

RESULT:
Effective communication with parents in terms with which parents can identify decreases the rejection of immunizations. Children who are appropriately immunized dramatically decrease the morbidity and mortality for vaccine preventable diseases.

CONCLUSION:
Health care providers who tailor their immunization teaching to the individual parent using terminology with which parents are familiar improve immunization rates. More parents will choose to immunize their children. Vaccine preventable diseases will be kept in check.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Participants will identify terminology and methods to make communication with parents more effective.