Since the onset of the pandemic, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) and healthcare providers have worked tirelessly to educate about and vaccinate against COVID-19. They have accomplished a great deal and while that is remarkable our most precious citizens, Michigan’s children, have fallen behind on their routine vaccinations. This alone is troubling, but many families are struggling with vaccine confidence, the belief that vaccines work, are safe and are part of a trusted medical framework. In turn, vaccine hesitancy is on the rise leaving children vulnerable to preventable diseases.

MDHHS wants to share an engaging resource with you. It is called I vaccinate Provider Toolkit  and it helps providers have meaningful and informative conversations with vaccine hesitant families.

I vaccinate helps providers with these conversations by presenting 2 approaches to communication about vaccines:

• The Presumptive Approach
• The PAST Model

The PRESUMPTIVE APPROACH has been proven to encourage families to get vaccines for their child.  Talking with Parents about Vaccines for Infants | CDC

• Assume parents will vaccinate
• Give your strong recommendation: “Your child is due for their HPV, Tdap, Meningococcal ACWY, and Flu vaccine today.”
• Listen to and respond to parent’s questions
• Wrapping up the conversation

The PAST MODEL has 4 steps:

• Pinpoint questions:
  • Encourages providers to pinpoint parents’ specific questions
• Address with science:
  • Provider will present answers that are based upon credible scientific sources
• Share stories:
  • Provider can share personal stories on how vaccine-preventable diseases have impacted other families and/or their own
• Takeaway:
  • Provides the family with a customized takeaway (resource), which directs them to credible information that answers their specific questions

To help with these important conversations, the provider toolkit has access to resources, stories, and answers to commonly asked questions. The provider can also add their own questions and stories to the website. The provider is able to generate the information that is discussed with the family by printing the whole presentation, a summary with a custom web URL, or generating a link to the website for the family to visit on their own.

To request access to the toolkit:

• Visit provider.ivaccinate.org
• Click “Request Access” on the login page
• Enter your name, email, organization, and title
• Click “Submit”

Remember that success comes in many forms. Parents may agree to all vaccines, some vaccines, or none. For those refusing vaccines, they may agree to be open for future conversations. These are all success stories and should continue to encourage us to keep using our voices in the promotion of protecting our children from vaccine preventable diseases.