Examining the barriers of influenza vaccine hesitancy in persons with dementia: a literature review.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite the proven benefits of vaccine prevention and the continuous development of this important public health measure, vaccine hesitancy is among the top ten threats to global health according to the World Health Organization in 2019. Those who contract the influenza virus will typically develop a mild illness. However, for populations at a higher risk, including those diagnosed with dementia, influenza is proven to be more detrimental. Persons with dementia (PWD) face a serious threat to influenza on an annual basis, and vaccine hesitancy may further potentiate this risk. The purpose of this paper is to explore and understand the barriers PWD face in receiving the influenza vaccine. METHODS: A literature review was conducted to examine the barriers that prevent PWD from seeking out the annual influenza vaccine. A thematic analysis provided an understanding of the overarching relationships found among the influences between the identified themes. RESULTS: Three main influences were identified: (1) intra-personal, (2) inter-personal, and (3) extra-personal, with each influence containing several subsequent sub-themes. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The literature review found that there is a lack of research involving this high-risk population and the barriers they face, especially within the extra-personal influences. Further research is required to understand how each barrier relates and connects with each other. Understanding this connection will aid public health organizations in decreasing the threat of vaccine hesitancy, thus decreasing the incidents of preventable deaths.

The Development of a Deprescribing Competency Framework in Geriatric Nursing Education.

The purpose of this article is to report the literature review findings of our larger deprescribing initiative, with the goal of developing a competency framework about deprescribing to be incorporated into the future geriatric nursing education curriculum. A literature review was conducted to examine the facilitators and barriers faced by nurses with regard to the process of deprescribing for older adults, and the development of deprescribing competency in nursing education. We adopted the seven steps of the Comprehensive Literature Review Process Model, which is sub-divided into the following three phases (a) Exploration; (b) Interpretation; and (c) Communication. A total of 24 peer-reviewed documents revealed three major facilitating factors: (a) Effective education and training in deprescribing; (b) Need for continuing education and professional development in medication optimization; and (c) Benefits of multi-disciplinary involvement in medication management.