Communicating vaccine risks and benefits

Abstract

Physicians spend significant amounts of time discussing vaccine safety concerns with patients and parents. Nonetheless, many physicians lack access to specific training and resources on communicating vaccine risks and benefits. This chapter provides the following: (1) an overview of vaccine risk communication strategies and barriers for primary-care physicians (pediatrics, family and internal medicine) in communicating with their patients and patients' parents, and (2) resources and best practices that can be used to improve vaccine-related risk-benefit communication.