Getting Started

Why Vaccination Talks and Health Literacy?

The Health and Physical Education curriculum is based on the vision that the knowledge and skills students acquire in the program will benefit students throughout their lives. As students acquire the ability to get, understand and use information to make informed decisions for health, they become health literate. They can communicate their choices and optimize their health outcomes across their life-course. Adopting a health promotion approach allows students to make connections between their health choices and chronic disease prevention (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2015/2019).

This resource has been developed for teachers and families with the intention of supporting children and youth in developing their health literacy related to vaccinations. It provides students with knowledge about vaccines and the skills needed to participate in informed decisions about their health. 

This resource is not intended to convince students that vaccination is the necessary route to optimum health. Decisions related to vaccines remain the responsibility of the parents/ caregivers in the context of their family values and beliefs.

The Vaccination Talks Toolkit was developed with funding support from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Focus of Learning 

The tools contained in this resource support teachers working with students from Grades 1 to 12. In all divisions, the intent of the learning is to provide students with an understanding of the impact of vaccinations on health to make informed choices as they mature and across their life course. 

• The focus of this learning for the primary division is on building students' understanding of the role of vaccinations in the prevention of transmission of viruses and the connections to protecting their health.
• In the junior division, as students mature and learn to take greater responsibility in participating in making decisions that impact their health, the learning shifts to deepening their understanding of vaccinations as one factor that contributes to healthy development and their personal health. 
• In the intermediate division, students continue to examine the factors that impact decision-making about vaccines and develop the skills to participate in making informed decisions related to vaccines available at their age and stage of development.
• At the secondary level, in grade 9/10 students explore the factors that influence their perspectives and decisions related to their health, consider the credibility of sources of health information and the impact on their perceptions about topics such as vaccines and vaccinations, and make connections between vaccinations and their overall health and well-being. Students practice conflict resolution skills to resolve conflicts that may arise in conversations when there are diverse perspectives about a health topic such as vaccinations.
• At the grade 11/12 level, students use questions to assess the credibility of sources for health information to identify misleading/false information and the implications on health decisions, explore emerging local and global health issues such as infectious diseases and their impact on the health of individuals and communities, and consider strategies and behaviours to maintain their health in situations when transmission of infection may be a concern for themselves or others.  Students also explore how social media may be a powerful tool to advocate for fair and equitable access to protective public health measures in Canada and the larger global community.

Vaccination Talks At-A-Glance

Administrators, educators, and parents/caregivers can support students in acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to participate in health-care decisions that are right for them across their life course. The educator video illustrates how The Vaccination Talks Toolkit supports educators’ confidence in helping their students with developing their health literacy related to vaccinations in a safe, inclusive and accepting learning environment. School administrators may refer to the tailored video to aid with promotion of the toolkit and enhancing understanding of how they may best help educators address this topic with confidence as part of a healthy school. The parent/caregiver video may be shared in order to encourage continued learning and conversation regarding factors that contribute to positive health outcomes and informed decision-making by starting a dialogue with children and youth at home.