Making vaccinations a more positive experience for everyone.
If you're looking for information you can trust about making vaccine injections less painful and stressful, you've come to the right place. HELPinKids&Adults (formerly HELPinKids) has reviewed all the science on this topic and created useful summaries and tools for health care providers and the public. Our work has been used by several health authorities including the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop its own guideline about reducing vaccination pain.
About Us
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We are a group of about two dozen experts working in different areas of health related to vaccination and pain. Our team includes health care providers (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and psychologists), scientists, policy makers, educators and patient advocates. We work in different universities, hospitals, government and non-government organizations across Canada.
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Getting vaccinated is important. Vaccines protect people of all ages against serious and life threatening diseases. Most of the time, however, vaccines are given with an injection. This can be stressful for individuals getting vaccinated as well as onlookers. About 10% of individuals are not vaccinated because of concerns about injection pain. This can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Numerous safe, effective, and feasible ways of reducing pain exist, yet individuals have not benefitted from this knowledge.
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HELPinKids&Adults creates scientific evidence and tools to improve pain care during vaccine injections, making vaccinations a more positive experience for everyone. You can find information on this website that you can use to make vaccinations more comfortable for yourself, your family members, or your patients. Please share this information with others to improve their vaccination experience.Since we started in 2008, HELPinKids&Adults has received recognition for its work nationally and internationally, including awards for scientific achievement and advocacy efforts in pain relief from the American Pain Society, the Canadian Paediatric Society, Canadian Pain Society, and the Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Our work has been supported primarily from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Mayday Fund, and The Public Health Agency of Canada.
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Endorsing organizations: Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres, Canadian Child & Youth Health Coalition, Canadian Family Advisory Network, Canadian Institute of Child Health, Canadian Nursing Coalition for Immunization, Canadian Paediatric Society, Canadian Pharmacists Association, Canadian Psychological Association, Canadian Public Health Association, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, Immunize Canada, AnxietyBC, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario.Supporting organizations: Canadian Center for Vaccinology, BC Centre for Disease Control.
Team Members
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Anna Taddio
Chair, PI, Evidence Lead, Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel
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C. Meghan McMurtry
Co-PI, Evidence Lead, Knowledge Translation Team, Guideline Panel
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Vibhuti Shah
Evidence Lead, Guideline Panel
Resources
In the News
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How to overcome a fear of needles
Readers Digest - April 8, 2021
Read Article -
Time COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine acceptance: words matter
This article initially appeared in the Globe and Mail on March 16, 2021.
MacDonald N, McMurtry CM, Taddio. Publication #95.
Read Article -
Why your arm might be sore after getting a vaccine
National Geographic - March 3, 2021
Read Article