Over the past five years, vaccination rates in children have dropped while vaccine-preventable illnesses, including measles and whooping cough, have increased.
To help encourage parents to protect their children’s health through vaccination, a local pediatric office has partnered with Lane County Public Health to make getting those important shots a more comfortable experience.
Comfort strategies
To help make getting shots easier for families, Eugene Pediatric Associates is now offering a “comfort menu.” Pediatrician Pilar Bradshaw says parents are offered a list of options to choose from to help relax children as they receive a vaccination.
‘We have a menu for the kids that are young and then we have a menu for the older kids,” she says. “It can involve basically comfort strategies and distractions. It can also help with younger babies being able to feed, whether they’re breastfeeding or taking a bottle during vaccines. The World Health Organization has helped us to know that’s actually safe and recommended now.”
The approach relies on strategies that are known to decrease trauma associated with medical care, Dr. Bradshaw says.
“So, for example, for babies, we know that feeding or sucking on something can decrease their physical experience of discomfort,” she says. “Being held by a parent, being snuggled or comforted can be an option. Dimming the lights can help young babies feel less stress.”
Alana Folsom, a parent who brought her 9-month-old daughter for a wellness checkup at Eugene Pediatrics, appreciates the effort to make vaccinations a more comfortable experience.
“Vaccines are really important and it’s a way I know that I can keep her healthy and safe, which I feel is my number one job as a parent. Any way that I can make that easier for her and for me is great,” Alana says. “We turned down the lights and I held her while she received her vaccination, and I think it does make a difference.”
Details of “comfort menu”
The components of the comfort menu vary by patient age.
For patients ages 0-3: options include comfort positions such as holding, breastfeeding, bottle-feeding or being swaddled on the exam table. Additional choices include:
- dimming the lights
- using a pacifier
- Sweet-Ease, a sugar-water solution used to reduce pain and discomfort
- Tylenol after the vaccination
For patients ages 4 or older: Children can be held on the exam table or a bench, or the child can sit on a bench, sit on a table or lie down on the exam table. Other strategies include:
- holding a personal item such as a toy or blanket
- visual distraction, such as looking at a book, tablet or phone
- an extra helper can be on hand for support
- sugar-free bubble gum
- Tylenol or ibuprofen after the vaccination
“ShotBlocker”
Another option for older children is the Bionix ShotBlocker, a small non-invasive device used to minimize pain.
“The ShotBlocker essentially confuses the brain,” Dr. Bradshaw says. “All of these little, tiny projections, which are not sharp but put pressure on the skin, distract the brain so that when a shot goes into the middle of the pad, it isn’t felt as much.”
Thirteen-year-old Jonah chose to get the ShotBlocker while getting his HPV vaccine. “The best part of going to the doctor is probably getting gum after a shot. And the worst part is probably the shot itself,” he says. “Having options today made it easier to get the shot.”
Pilot project
The comfort menu is based on proven research, and it’s offered in partnership with Lane County Public Health as a pilot project to try a new way of giving vaccines to babies and children, Dr. Bradshaw says.
“We’re going to try this for a whole year, see how our vaccine rates hopefully increase, and then we will be able to use that model to show the community, ‘Wow, this can really work.’”
The comfort menu will be offered when parents bring their children in for a wellness exam.
“If there are vaccines, our medical assistants will show you the comfort menu and go through each of your options to help you and your child feel more comfortable,” Dr. Bradshaw says.
Alana says she appreciates the comfort menu and how it helped with her daughter’s vaccination.
“We really like the comfort menu,” she says. “It’s a really helpful option for us when we’re getting her vaccinated that makes the experience just a little bit softer.”
For more information, see the EugenePeds.com website page detailing comfort menu options.
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