While immunisation rates were 94.63% for the whole Nepean Blue Mountains region of New South Wales in 2017, coverage for 1 year olds in the upper Blue Mountains was under 80%. There is a known relationship between vaccine-hesitant parents and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use; however, little is known about how CAM practitioners fit within the information-seeking pathway of parents. This exploratory study sought to address this knowledge gap. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with vaccine-hesitant and vaccine rejecting parents and CAM practitioners purposively sampled from the Blue Mountains area revealed three sets of themes: 1) Parents’ search for further information about immunisation; 2) Parents’ use of CAM practitioners as an immunisation information source; and 3) CAM practitioners’ engagement with parents about immunisation. CAM practitioners form a definite, if complex, part of vaccine-hesitant and vaccine-rejecting parents decision-making pathway in the Blue Mountains area. The notion of patient choice is crucial to vaccine discussions. Development of support materials, such as decision resources which give impartial and detailed information while acknowledging and supporting patient choice, are needed to support both CAM practitioners and parents in making informed vaccination decisions.

中文翻译：

---

补充和替代医学从业者在澳大利亚蓝山地区对疫苗犹豫不决的父母的信息寻求途径中的作用

虽然 2017 年新南威尔士州整个 Nepean Blue Mountains 地区的免疫接种率为 94.63%，但上蓝山地区 1 岁儿童的覆盖率低于 80%。对疫苗犹豫不决的父母与补充和替代医学 (CAM) 的使用之间存在已知的关系；然而，关于 CAM 从业者如何适应父母的信息寻求途径，我们知之甚少。这项探索性研究旨在解决这一知识差距。对有针对性地从蓝山地区抽样的对疫苗犹豫和拒绝接种疫苗的父母和 CAM 从业者进行的定性半结构化访谈揭示了三组主题：1) 父母寻找有关免疫接种的更多信息；2) 家长使用CAM从业者作为免疫信息来源；3) CAM 从业者与家长就免疫接种进行的互动。CAM 从业者构成了蓝山地区对疫苗犹豫不决和拒绝疫苗的父母决策途径的明确（如果复杂）的一部分。患者选择的概念对于疫苗讨论至关重要。需要开发支持材料，例如在承认和支持患者选择的同时提供公正和详细信息的决策资源，以支持 CAM 从业人员和父母做出明智的疫苗接种决定。