The effects of social cultural practices on parental decision to undergo Polio Vaccination in Mwala Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya.

Abstract

Vaccination is a key indicator to a country’s commitment to health and especially to children’s health. This is because it plays an important role in preventing child mortality and future disability. A lot of progress has been made in Kenya towards attaining full vaccination uptake but there are still many challenges hampering this. Some of these challenges range from religious beliefs, education levels and economic status of families. This research therefore sought to investigate these factors. The objectives of the research included: to examine the effects of education level of parents on the choice to vaccinate their children against Polio in Mwala Sub-County; to assess the influence of religion on parental choice of their children being vaccinated against Polio; to examine the effects of parental social status on their choice to have their children vaccinated against polio and to assess the effects of information access on parental choice to have their children vaccinated against polio in Mwala sub-county. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action, the study argued that the best predictor of behavior is behavioral intention and thus, the decision of a parent to either have the child vaccinated against polio is fully dependent on the intention, attitude and subjective norms. The study adopted a Descriptive Survey Design in which a total of 381respondents were selected using Krejcie and Morgan’s formulae was issued with questionnaires and another 6 post natal care givers from each of the six wards were interviewed. Stratified random sampling technique was employed in selecting these respondents whereby from each of the six wards, 63 respondents were selected. Analysis was done in two ways; the quantitative data was aided by the computer software Excel and presented in tables, charts, figures and percentages. On the other hand, qualitative data from the responses; especially those from interviews, were used to back up the quantitative data. The study established that indeed parental social status, education levels and religious beliefs have an immense influence on the parental choice to vaccinate their children. This study would benefit a number of people especially community workers, health practitioners and policy makers.