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Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions
Low vaccine uptake in South Tyrol, particularly for non-coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, poses a significant public health challenge in the northernmost province of Italy. This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of vaccine-sceptical parents to examine the fac...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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MDPI
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10341176/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37444742 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131908 |
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author | Wiedermann, Christian J. Koler, Peter Tauber, Sara Plagg, Barbara Psaier, Vera Barbieri, Verena Piccoliori, Giuliano Engl, Adolf |
author_facet | Wiedermann, Christian J. Koler, Peter Tauber, Sara Plagg, Barbara Psaier, Vera Barbieri, Verena Piccoliori, Giuliano Engl, Adolf |
author_sort | Wiedermann, Christian J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Low vaccine uptake in South Tyrol, particularly for non-coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, poses a significant public health challenge in the northernmost province of Italy. This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of vaccine-sceptical parents to examine the factors that contribute to their vaccination decisions. The ten participants’ children had varied vaccination statuses, ranging from unvaccinated to partially vaccinated or vaccinated as late as possible. Only one adult participant received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Using Grounded Theory analysis, the emergent meta-category of ‘self-relatedness’ was identified, highlighting the importance of individual experiences and the social context. The study found that participants’ social circles consisted of individuals with similar vaccination attitudes, often characterized by a shared affinity for nature. Although they accepted individuals with different views, they remained uninfluenced. Participants perceived healthcare professionals as one-sided and uncritical, expressing distrust toward state orders. They believed that parents should be responsible for their children’s well-being rather than the state. Distrust in the state and healthcare system, exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, was rooted in negative experiences. In contrast, the participants had positive experiences with natural healing, homeopathy, and trusting the natural course of events. They perceived themselves as tolerant, non-radical, curious, health-conscious, yet critical and questioning. Participants resisted coercion, fear-mongering, and state sanctions and sought alternatives to mandatory vaccination. To address the complex social and behavioural factors underlying vaccination refusal, this study suggests that vaccination advocates, policymakers, and information providers should engage in appreciative, personal, and well-founded information exchanges with vaccine-hesitant individuals. Broad and comprehensible information dissemination, flexibility, and freedom of decision are essential for increasing informed decision making. Further research is required to better understand the epistemic basis of vaccine hesitancy. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10341176 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103411762023-07-14 Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions Wiedermann, Christian J. Koler, Peter Tauber, Sara Plagg, Barbara Psaier, Vera Barbieri, Verena Piccoliori, Giuliano Engl, Adolf Healthcare (Basel) Article Low vaccine uptake in South Tyrol, particularly for non-coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, poses a significant public health challenge in the northernmost province of Italy. This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of vaccine-sceptical parents to examine the factors that contribute to their vaccination decisions. The ten participants’ children had varied vaccination statuses, ranging from unvaccinated to partially vaccinated or vaccinated as late as possible. Only one adult participant received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Using Grounded Theory analysis, the emergent meta-category of ‘self-relatedness’ was identified, highlighting the importance of individual experiences and the social context. The study found that participants’ social circles consisted of individuals with similar vaccination attitudes, often characterized by a shared affinity for nature. Although they accepted individuals with different views, they remained uninfluenced. Participants perceived healthcare professionals as one-sided and uncritical, expressing distrust toward state orders. They believed that parents should be responsible for their children’s well-being rather than the state. Distrust in the state and healthcare system, exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, was rooted in negative experiences. In contrast, the participants had positive experiences with natural healing, homeopathy, and trusting the natural course of events. They perceived themselves as tolerant, non-radical, curious, health-conscious, yet critical and questioning. Participants resisted coercion, fear-mongering, and state sanctions and sought alternatives to mandatory vaccination. To address the complex social and behavioural factors underlying vaccination refusal, this study suggests that vaccination advocates, policymakers, and information providers should engage in appreciative, personal, and well-founded information exchanges with vaccine-hesitant individuals. Broad and comprehensible information dissemination, flexibility, and freedom of decision are essential for increasing informed decision making. Further research is required to better understand the epistemic basis of vaccine hesitancy. MDPI 2023-07-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10341176/ /pubmed/37444742 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131908 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Wiedermann, Christian J. Koler, Peter Tauber, Sara Plagg, Barbara Psaier, Vera Barbieri, Verena Piccoliori, Giuliano Engl, Adolf Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title | Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title_full | Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title_fullStr | Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title_full_unstemmed | Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title_short | Unravelling Vaccine Scepticism in South Tyrol, Italy: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal, Relational, and Structural Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions |
title_sort | unravelling vaccine scepticism in south tyrol, italy: a qualitative analysis of personal, relational, and structural factors influencing vaccination decisions |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10341176/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37444742 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131908 |
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