Resource
Vaccination Talks Toolkit
Grade(s)
9,
10
Division(s)
Senior
What Is It All About?
This activity allows participants to explore the connections between vaccinations and their overall health and well-being.
Curriculum Connections
1, C1, C2
Why Do It?
Providing participants with the opportunity to increase their understanding of vaccinations as one strategy designed to protect their health helps them make evidence-based informed decisions to take responsibility for their physical health.
How Do We Do It?
- Divide participants into small groups of 4-5 and provide each group with access to a shared document (chart paper and markers or online interactive tool).
- Post the following statement for groups to reference: “Holistic health includes paying attention to our physical, emotional, social, spiritual/cultural health. Each of these components interacts with each other to support our optimal wellbeing.”
- Use a Mind Map strategy for groups to generate ideas and record actions they can take to support each component of their health (e.g., physical - nourish their body with foods available to them, incorporate physical activity into their daily routines, get regular checkups; emotional - develop healthy coping and stress management strategies; social - build healthy relationships with others). Invite groups to share their ideas with the larger group.
- Explain to participants that with the emergence of easily transmissible viruses, vaccinations are one choice individuals can make to care for their health.
- Have groups discuss and record their answers to the following questions on their Mind Map:
- In what way might vaccinations impact an individual’s physical health?
- What factors might impact a person’s decisions related to vaccinations?
- How can individuals communicate their perspectives about vaccinations as one way to support their health while respecting others' perspectives that might differ from their own?
- Invite groups to share their ideas with the larger group.
- Provide participants with an Exit Card to reflect on the following questions:
- What factors impact your decision about vaccinations as one choice to support your health?
- How would you communicate your personal choice about vaccinations while respecting the choices and decisions of others who may have a differing perspective about vaccinations?
What Else Do We Need?
- Access to a shared document (chart paper and markers or online interactive tool)
- Space for activity
- Exit Card
How Do We Get Creative?
- Share responses (anonymously) gathered from the Exit Cards to extend the discussion about factors that impact decisions about vaccinations and ways to communicate personal choices while respecting the choices and decisions of others.
- Have participants generate questions they have about vaccinations and provide an opportunity to explore evidence-informed resources such as Ophea’s Vaccination Talks Resource Database to answer their questions.
- Have students generate phrases they might use to show they are actively listening to another person’s perspective about a topic such as vaccinations (e.g., “I heard you say…”, “I understand how you feel about….”, “I respect your point of view about…”). Have students pair up and take opposite stances about vaccinations to practice how they might communicate their personal choices and decisions with someone whose perspective about vaccinations differs from their own while showing how they respect the other person’s point of view.