Page 22 - Preventing pertussis in early infancy - Visser

Chapter 2
Qualitative study
et al. 2016).
To identify possible determinants of acceptance, it is important to gain an in-depth
understanding of the target groups’ values, opinions, behaviours, and social contexts regarding pertussis cocooning. The existing evidence is mainly based on quantitative research, which is very useful for confirming hypotheses, but contributes less to developing a thorough comprehension of the situation. Therefore, this study qualitatively explores the perceived determinants (barriers as well as enablers) of intention to accept pertussis cocooning vaccination in both parents and various groups of healthcare professionals in the Netherlands, and it describes the differences between the groups that were interviewed.
Methods Design
We conducted focus group meetings to explore all the relevant perceived determinants of intention to accept pertussis vaccination. A focus group encourages interaction between the participants, which facilitates a rich discussion(Kitzinger 1995). If no focus group was possible due to organisational constraints, individual interviews were carried out.
Study participants
We selected parents of newborn babies and three different subgroups of healthcare workers: maternity assistants, midwives, and paediatric nurses, as they reflect groups that are in close and prolonged contact with newborns. The study was performed in the Netherlands, a country where both maternal pertussis vaccination and pertussis cocooning were not implemented during the study period. In the Netherlands government-advised vaccination programmes are normally paid for by public funding, which was the assumption of the intervi ewees during the interviews. We organised homogeneous focus group meetings between May 2011 and June 2012.
Parents
We interviewed pregnant women as well as mothers and fathers of newborns to determine their opinions. We asked seven teachers of pregnancy exercises from three different institutions in three different geographical areas in the Netherlands to invite their current groups of antenatal and postnatal women to participate. Their partners were also invited for a separate focus group. The communities from which the pregnancy classes were assembled, differed clearly with respect to socio-economic features. The teachers registered the names for participation, and arranged for a convenient time and place for the focus group meetings.
Maternity assistants
One home care organisation invited as many maternity assistants as necessary from 10 teams. These maternity assistants have a completed intermediate vocational education
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