The latest installment of the #PWChat series centered around empowering physicians to discuss vaccination with patients.
Below are the highlights from the chat. You can read the full transcript here, by scrolling through the questions and answers provided by participants in reverse chronological order.
Welcome to the latest #PWChat, on empowering physicians to discuss vaccination with patients, with co-host @dr_shaps. Our plan is to go until 2pm EST, officially, but let’s keep the convo going well after!
— Physician’s Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
Q1: What advice can you give physicians on starting the conversation about #vaccination with patients?#PWChat
— Physician’s Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
Love that!!! Your are right! When we asume… We Know how that ends! pic.twitter.com/wUiRzRTrLi
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
I will be sharing some of of the tools that I use. Specially to start conversations. As physicians we need to know what is out there. @ThisIsOurShot / @VacunateYa / @greaterthanCV19 / @KFF / @LcacNews are working hard to empower #healthHeroes
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
This opens hearts and minds. Your objective as a physician is to share information and help with evidence-based data what is real and what is not. #PWChat #ThisIsOurShot #VacunateYa #UnaPorUna #KFF pic.twitter.com/HQXjDGMCfM
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
Agree… I always try to make sure that my patients interact with me. I do tell them that I’m their waiter and will show them the menu, and will recommend best dishes, and some times they will want something else. But they are in charge @PWchat
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
Thé physician can still be the SME while balancing shared decision making. #PWChat
— Savvy Co-op | #AskPatients (@savvy_coop) July 29, 2021
I very much like the “balanced shared decision making” approach#pwchat
— Matthew Loxton (@mloxton) July 29, 2021
For sure! Couldn’t agree more.
— Savvy Co-op | #AskPatients (@savvy_coop) July 29, 2021
Q2: What can/should physicians do to remain “neutral” during discussions about #vaccination with patients, and why is that important?#PWChat
— Physician’s Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
A2: Know the literature. Know the data. Understand biases and pro con discussions. Understand where pt is coming from. #PWChat
— Jasminka Criley MD, FACP, FHM (@criley_md) July 29, 2021
A2: Do not hesitate to mention the risks as well as the benefits. Trust in the patient to do their own risk stratification with the full scope of information.
When we promote paternalism, we sacrifice patient trust – and we all suffer. #PWchat #medtwitter
— Kerry Wilkins, MD (@KerryWilkinsMD) July 29, 2021
As a physician I strongly support mandating vaccination if you intend to frequent public spaces. If you want to simply remain at home and not interact with anyone then you can refuse the vaccine, but otherwise vaccine refusal endangers yourself and others.
— Dr. Frederick Southwick (@FS_Southwick) July 30, 2021
💯
— Jasminka Criley MD, FACP, FHM (@criley_md) July 29, 2021
Exactly. Instead of passing judgement, we should work on educating patients so they are able to better understand the importance and are eager to play a role in stopping the spread. #PWChat
— Savvy Co-op | #AskPatients (@savvy_coop) July 29, 2021
A2: Yes, there are 2 sides:
1. Humanistic (lots to share, unfortunately)
2. Scientific (lots to share about it too, fortunately).Third side is knowing how to address biases and misinformation with gentle and persistent and well informed guidance. #pwchat #medtwitter
— Jasminka Criley MD, FACP, FHM (@criley_md) July 29, 2021
A2 Just to add a point – from the Blue Faery side, we (still!) see a lot of patients who are on palliative care but think they are on a curative pathway, and are not aware that they are terminal. This happens when the physician is not dialing up the SME side enough #pwchat
— Matthew Loxton (@mloxton) July 29, 2021
Q3: How can/should physicians respond when faced with patients who have incorrect information and/or misguided fears about vaccination, particularly those who seem unwilling to change their minds?#PWChat
— Physician’s Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
The hardest think sometimes is just to seat down and really be present. I like that part: #DoNotBeAJudge #PWChat
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
YES!!! Also I like to share links like https://t.co/T5vmpJeTYM that are short nice videos from @KFF #PwChat
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
At the end, I prefer a patient that comes back and ask more questions, than a patient that gets lost in the war of misinformation #PWChat pic.twitter.com/7ITvwlMSyY
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
Q4: What reliable sources should physicians be aware of for obtaining the latest vaccination-related information?#PWChat
— Physician's Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
😯 Great idea!
Making UpToDo free for docs too 😉#pwchat— Jasminka Criley MD, FACP, FHM (@criley_md) July 29, 2021
A4. My favorite ones: https://t.co/qm9RPZ6fAV, https://t.co/U9ir0lHeFt, https://t.co/P2DgliTkfG https://t.co/plUsttuicR It has been very useful!#PWChat #CovidInfo #MedTwitter #MedStudet https://t.co/8Cd0Ix7WGV pic.twitter.com/sYC3RBHQee
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
Q5: What reliable sources of accurate vaccination-related information should physicians share with patients?#PWChat
— Physician's Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
A5 My 4 favorites https://t.co/GhUO8EW30w https://t.co/Up7F4IJHgo https://t.co/T5vmpJeTYM https://t.co/DzsIlbfcRz #PWChat https://t.co/yeoLAENZVA pic.twitter.com/z14nVUGFTx
— Ilan Shapiro MD (#AndaleQueEsperas) (@dr_shaps) July 29, 2021
Q6: Should physicians consider patients who decline vaccination to be #antivax? Why/why not? Why does that label matter?#PWChat
— Physician's Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
Labels are like the name of the town but does not tell you what is in the town.
It's also like your body weight label. It does not tell you the actual body composition.
Labels can lead to poor assessment and plan for intervention.— Dawna Mughal PhD RDN (@DawnaMughalPhD) July 29, 2021
To me antivax applies to the relatively small % of ppl who bought into the Wakefield misinfo where it's impossible to convince them of vax value. Pts I've admitted to hosp have a myriad of reasons they didn't get it & lumping them w extremist fringe groups is counterproductive.
— James Lim, MD (@JLimHospMD) July 29, 2021
This question begs for more important questions:
Why do we label people?
Why do we judge?
We (humans) do it all the time.
Is that good or bad?
Can we really educate (and help) those we label or pre-label?#pwchat— Jasminka Criley MD, FACP, FHM (@criley_md) July 29, 2021
We’re officially out of time, but PLEASE, let’s keep this very important discussion going!
In the meantime, we give special thanks to @dr_shaps for co-hosting and thank you all for joining and providing great insights and thoughts!#PWChat— Physician's Weekly (@physicianswkly) July 29, 2021
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