KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF RIVERINE MOTHERS ABOUT VACCINATION

ABSTRACT

Objective:  to analyze the knowledge of riverine mothers about vaccination and its influence on the practice of taking their children for vaccination.

Method:  qualitative/descriptive study, conducted at the Combú Family Health Unit, Belém-Pará, Brazil, with 30 riverine mothers who had children of vaccination age. Data were produced by individual interviews, whose corpus was analyzed with the software Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires 0.7, alpha 2, using Descending Hierarchical Classification.

Results:  the software generated six classes, composing two categories: “Knowledge and practices of riverine mothers about vaccination” and “Importance of health education and the role of health professionals in sharing information about vaccination”.

Conclusion:  discussing the knowledge of riverside mothers about vaccination and its influence on decision-making allowed a critical reflection on the practices in the daily life of this population, providing health professionals with the opportunity to rethink strategies, especially in educational actions.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Conceptions of riverine mothers about vaccination.

2. The importance of health education in the context of vaccination.

3. The role of the health professional in information sharing.

4. Critical reflection about vaccination practices in the riverine context.