Patience and humor, useful tools for dealing with misinformation, vaccine hesitancy

By Greg Basky

In hindsight, Dr. John Dosman wishes he’d handled differently a patient who showed up at the Saskatoon Community Clinic in the early days of the pandemic refusing to wear a mask.

Things escalated to the point where the man became aggressive toward Dr. Dosman and his staff, and finally had to be asked to leave the building. “I must say, I didn’t deal with that very well,” says Dr. Dosman, who chalks up his uncharacteristic reaction to a fuse shortened by lack of sleep from a busy on-call rotation.

However, hard-core anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers have been the exception, not the rule, in Dr. Dosman’s practice. Far more common, he says, are the patients who are simply a bit hesitant or unsure about getting vaccinated, sometimes based on misinformation.

Like the woman Melfort family physician Dr. Michael Stoll spoke with on the phone, whose husband was convinced he couldn’t get his shot for COVID-19 because he’d had a shingles vaccine several months earlier. “I asked her where he’d heard that. As it turns out, it was just some random person he didn’t even really know who told him he’d have an aneurysm rupture.”

During the past year, based on hundreds of interactions with patients, Drs. Stoll and Dosman have identified a handful of strategies they’ve found effective when communicating with those who are on the fence when it comes to vaccinations.

Vaccination is the default

Dr. Dosman, who completed training made available for physicians who wanted to deliver vaccines, says he starts virtually all patient interactions with: “Have you had your shot yet?” If the answer is no, he follows up by asking if they’ve made an appointment to be vaccinated. “It’s almost that the default position is, well of course you’re going to get vaccinated,” says Dr. Dosman. “I think maybe the psychology behind this is that if your doctor is making the assumption that you’re getting it, then you probably should.”

Humor helps

Dr. Stoll says he pulls out humor when it’s the right fit for a patient he knows well. He cites the example of patients who pointed out during the first phase of the vaccination rollout that 30 per cent of Saskatchewan health-care professionals initially opted not to receive their first shot. “They’d say, ‘What does that tell you?’ And I’m like, ‘It tells me they’re making a bad decision, that’s what it tells me.’ ” Dr. Stoll says humor does work and it’s part of who he is as a doctor. The key is its judicious application. Know your audience, and know what’s going to resonate with them.

Get personal

For some people, knowing that their doctor has rolled up his or her sleeve is all the nudge they need. Dr. Stoll says he’s had conversations with patients who thought they couldn’t get vaccinated because they already had COVID-19. He explains that he had the virus – and that he went ahead and got vaccinated too. “You can talk through their concerns from your own personal perspective. I tell them what side-effects I had. You go through that with them and explain what to expect. When you’ve chosen to do something, that shows you’re comfortable with the safety.” Dr. Dosman agrees. “I tell my patients that I’m super excited that I’ve gotten my vaccination, because this is our way out of these annoying restrictions and inconveniences.”

At the end of the day though, patients who are deeply entrenched in their “anti” views are unlikely to be swayed by facts and data, according to Dr. Stoll. “Absolutely, it’s important to do your due diligence and make an attempt. But you need to pick your battles. Those patients probably aren’t the ones you’re going to win over.”

Focus on facts

One of the most common concerns patients raise with Dr. Dosman is the speed at which the various vaccines were developed. He patiently talks them through the factors that made this possible: It was a global, collective scientific effort; the mRNA technology already existed so scientists could hit the ground running; all of the necessary regulatory checks and balances were followed; and millions of people have been immunized with no serious side-effects. “More often than not, that short discussion is enough to ease any concerns those people have, and then they’re for it.”