The Universal Language of Story: Narrative Development and Utility within Provider-Parent Interactions to Guide Child Vaccination Decisions

Project Team Image

Project member(s):

  • Lisa Gachara

Faculty mentor:

The Universal Language of Story: Narrative Development and Utility within Provider-Parent Interactions to Guide Child Vaccination Decisions

Project overview

In 2017 only 41.2% of children in the U.S received all recommended vaccine doses according to schedule by 19 months of age. Within various healthcare settings, the decision of individuals to accept or reject medical interventions is often influenced by the ways in which scientific or clinical information about the intervention is communicated to them. This study presents an application within the context of childhood vaccinations, using an exploratory approach to  health promoting decisions are partially dependent on the conversations that occur between healthcare providers and parents. The integration of narrative, a form of storytelling that utilizes personal experience, within provider-parent conversations could promote informed decision making and ultimately vaccine uptake. In this study, four narratives were developed, informed by existing interviews with both health care providers who administer child vaccines and parents of young children. These fictional narratives integrated an aggregate of parental experiences and provider perceptions, resulting in stories following different mothers making vaccine decisions and their varying concerns. They demonstrated responses on a spectrum, ranging from vaccine acceptance to refusal. Through in-depth interviews, hesitant and non-hesitant parents provided feedback and insight to the acceptability and feasibility of these narratives.  Results demonstrated feelings of representation as parents resonated with those in the stories, and shared similar concerns to the ones expressed. The results suggest that the use of narrative in the distribution of healthcare information allows for thought processes based on both empathy and experience, granting informed decision making. Further research can explore implementation factors, including the timing, delivery format, and frequency of use of narratives in vaccine communication.

Project poster

Last updated on June 26, 2023