Purpose: In Australia, adolescents are scheduled to receive vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, human papillomavirus, and meningococcal disease, delivered via school vaccination programs and general practitioners (GPs). Public health measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted uptake of some adolescent age-based vaccinations. Limited information is available on parents' approaches to vaccinating their adolescent children during the pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowing evidence highlights the negative impact of managing the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of the healthcare workforce, including in the aged care sector. We undertook a qualitative study during the pandemic's third year to explore the psychosocial impacts on nine managers of residential care facilities (RCFs) across metropolitan and rural New South Wales, the largest state in Australia. Four themes were identified: (1) Increased pressure on maintaining aged care services, (2) Increased responsibility on RCF managers, (3) Psychosocial impacts due to accumulating pressures, and (4) Experience of beneficial supports.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To understand residential aged care facility (the facility) managers' perspectives on implementing public health measures (the measures) in their facilities in terms of barriers, facilitators and suggestions for improvement, after three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Nine managers of the facilities without an active COVID-19 outbreak across New South Wales, Australia, representing metropolitan and rural locations, diverse facility size and star quality rating were interviewed (April-June 2023) and data qualitatively analysed.
Results: Broader policy context, the need to balance the measures with resident well-being, facility-built infrastructure and mask fatigue were reported as barriers to implementation.
BMJ Open
June 2023
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to declines in routine childhood and adolescent vaccination coverage globally. While the declines in Australia have been less, they are a concern, given steady increases in coverage prior to the pandemic. Given limited evidence on how the experiences of parents during the pandemic affected their attitudes about and intentions towards adolescent vaccinations, with this study we aimed to explore these.
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