By Katarina A. Lewczyk | Date published: October 15, 2024
Kimberly Fisher and UMass Chan Researchers Reveal Challenges and Opportunities Surrounding Greater Acceptance of Vaccines in Recent Study
Vaccination plays a crucial role in protecting against COVID-19 and other deadly viruses. However, primary care physicians struggle to persuade some patients to get vaccinated.
Kimberly Fisher, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, in partnership with other researchers at UMass Chan, recently explored physicians’ experiences with patients hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccines. The study included focus groups with 40 primary care physicians practicing in Central Massachusetts, focusing on their experience with hesitant patients and those they could not convince to get vaccinated. Results from the study published in Patient Education and Counseling, reveal challenges and opportunities surrounding the greater acceptance of vaccines among patients.
“What we heard from the PCPs was just universal frustration with having a subset of patients who they felt like they couldn’t get through to, despite their pre-existing relationship and feeling like the patients really trusted them—which had been touted as one of the best ways to get people vaccinated,” said Dr. Fisher, principal investigator on the study.