Strengthening the paternal bond: report of an event encouraging the active participation of the father figure in childhood immunization

Abstract

Immunization is one of the main strategies to ensure the protection of human beings against certain infectious diseases. It is known that artificial induction of human immunity against diseases occurs from the first days of life, thus requiring the effective participation of parents of newborns in this process of protection. In this context, the role of maternal figures is significantly highlighted, which gives the need to promote educational actions that induce and instruct father figures to have greater contact with the vaccination of their descendants. This article aims to report the experience of medical students to promote an educational moment for father figures about their participation in the vaccination of their children. This is an experience report, which exposes the perception of medical students when planning and executing an educational-extensionist event. This event was based on the distribution of pamphlets and presentation of banners, which contained information about the need for paternal participation in childhood immunization, as well as about the reappearance of eradicated diseases. After the educational activities, it was noticed that the action was successful, that the target audience accepted and was involved in this health communication proposal and that the information was passed efficiently. Still, it was clear that many paternal characters live with many doubts about the importance of immunization and admit not being active in the immunization of their children.