Have a child born in 2011? Take this immunization survey

The Nova Scotia Health Agency (NSHA) has released a survey that is asking parents about their experiences with and access to vaccines for their children.

“It's so important for us to understand what all parents are saying,” says Lori McCracken, project lead and health protection manager with NSHA.

Specifically, the survey is looking for responses from 3,000 parents across the province with children who were born in 2011.

The specific age range is to correspond with past data from a national survey done in 2013, which also collected data ion seven-year-olds.

The previous data collected shows that Nova Scotia is lagging behind the goal and national average of 95 per cent immunization rate. Provincial rates were 90 per cent for the first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, while only 71 per cent got a second dose. And just 77 per cent got all four doses of the DTAP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) vaccine.

“I assume there are some challenges that parents are facing,” McCracken tells NEWS 95.7's The Todd Veinotte Show. “Just given that there's a difference between those two vaccines.”

The NSHA survey takes 10 minutes to complete, and McCracken says they want to hear from all viewpoints, even those who aren't vaccinating their children.

“We do first off we ask has your child ever been immunized? So we take the parents who say yes to that and ask them a different set of questions. And then for the parents who say no they haven't been immunized we ask them a different set of questions,” she says.

McCracken says that there are many access barriers that could prevent children from receiving immunization, and that only about 1.5 per cent of the population are true “anti-vaxxers.”

“It might be difficult or have no access to a primary health care provider. You might find it difficult to access a public health clinic, or you might not even know where the clinics area,” she says.

Especially for recent immigrants to Nova Scotia, people in rural communities, or people who speak different languages, there could be barriers.

“Access might even be access related to information and understanding how to access a health care system in general,” says McCracken.

The 3,000 person sample size is ambitious, but McCracken says the NSHA wants to be able to break the data down based on regions.

“We want to be able to report our data right down to the county or community level. So in order to do that you have to have a representative sample of that community,” she says.

The surrvey is being funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada as part of the immunization partnership fund.

“The survey is just the first part of a two year project. We're trying to enhance access for all, and we can't enhance access for people unless we hear from people,” McCracken says.

McCracken says letters are being send out in public school systems to parents beginning this week. Eventually, parents will also receive a reminder phone call about participation and can asnwer the survey over the phone as well.

“We've made sure it's very easily readable for parents, easy to understand, and it really does take only 10 minutes,” she says. “That might still be a challenge for parents, but we're also incentivising them cause we are doing some draws for people who complete the survey.”

The survey can also be completed online by accessing engageforhealth.ca.