What are the most common concerns parents have about immunisation? What do you say to parents who aren’t sure vaccines are safe for their children? 

In this webinar, international vaccine hesitancy expert Professor Julie Leask  discussed the most common concerns Australian parents have about immunisation and launched the new SKAI eLearning module and website for providers. The SKAI eLearning module is designed to help you adapt your clinical communication skills to meet the needs of all parents, whether they are ready to vaccinate, have questions or intend to decline vaccination altogether, and provides an introduction to the SKAI website for providers.
 
NSW Immunisation Specialist Service lead Associate Professor Nicholas Wood gave practical advice to address these common concerns, covering a range of scenarios, including responding to vaccine safety concerns and applying SKAI communication strategies and resources.

Video resources:

 

Speakers: 
Professor Julie Leask

Julie

Julie Leask is a social scientist and professor in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. She has qualifications in nursing and midwifery, a Master of Public Health (USYD, 1998) and PhD in public health (USYD, 2002). Her research focuses on risk communication, responding to vaccine hesitancy and refusal, and strengthening vaccination programs and policy and she has 124 publications in the field. She is visiting professorial fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance where she established the Social Science Unit between 2002 and 2014.

 

Associate Professor Nicholas Wood

Nick


Nicholas Wood is a staff specialist general paediatrician and Associate Professor and Academic Lead (Higher Degree Research) in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health at The University of Sydney. He holds an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship. He leads the NSW Immunisation Specialist Service and coordinates the Immunisation Adverse Events Clinic at The Children's Hospital at Westmead. He is interested in maternal and neonatal immunisation, as well as research into vaccine safety, including genetics and long-term outcomes of adverse events following immunisation. 

 

About Sharing Knowledge about Immunisation (SKAI): 
SKAI is a suite of vaccination communication support tools. SKAI is designed to equip primary healthcare providers to help them assess parents’ communication and information needs and provide effective, tailored communication, without sacrificing efficiency. The package includes an eLearning module and website for healthcare providers, and a website for parents with accessible, easy to understand resources.

The SKAI eLearning module is designed to help you adapt your clinical communication skills to meet the needs of all parents, whether they are ready to vaccinate, have questions or intend to decline vaccination altogether and provides an introduction to the SKAI website for providers.

The SKAI website for providers contains:

  • information to help you recognise parents who can benefit from your time and expertise (and avoid extended or confrontational interactions)
  • information to help you respond to parents’ questions or concerns
  • a recommendation for structuring your vaccination consultations
  • tips we gathered from experienced clinicians.

The SKAI communication package was developed by Professor Julie Leask and Dr Nina Berry, with input from Associate Professor Margie Danchin, Professor Lyndal Trevena, Dr Penelope Robinson and support from NCIRS. The SKAI team and NCIRS would like to acknowledge the many contributors and collaborators without whom the successful development of SKAI would not have been possible.

Last updated March 2023