Family Theory
You will be given a controversial practice within the pediatric age range. You will either agree or disagree with the option you chose and support your opinion with evidence from scholarly articles
Please see attached for questions and Rubric.
Part 1 – 2 pages (Includes; Intro, analysis and application)
Part 2- 1 page (Analysis)
Part 1
An adolescent should be able to determine if they should receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Part 2
The HPV Vaccine should be available to all Grade 7 students in the public school system without parental consent.
Sample Answer
Family Theory
Part 1
In this part, I will be analyzing the statement that, “an adolescent must be able to determine if they should receive COVID-19 vaccine”. Covid-19 vaccine is intended to offer acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a virus that leads to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The covid-19 vaccines are usually attributed for their function to minimize the spread, severity and death brought by covid-19. An effective Covid-19 vaccine will protect an individual who acquires it by reducing the chances of getting covid-19 if someone encounters the coronavirus.
World Health Organization reveals that adolescents’ range between ages 10 and 19 years. Most adolescents are encompassed in the age-based delineation of a child. In my opinion, adolescents should have a chance to determine whether they should have the COVID-19 vaccine. Adolescents are legally able to make medical decisions for themselves. This is also recognized on several occasions like prenatal care and contraception, covid19 vaccination, consent to sexual health, substance abuse and mental health treatment. In addition, emotional and cognitive regulation skills that are needed to make decisions evolve during adolescence. Individuals as young as 14 years old do understand medical information and come to make reasonable decisions. Physicians who should protect adolescents from any harm have to consider whether adolescents who need the COVID-19 vaccination are protecting their interests or not (Ladhani 2021). Also, adolescents of age 12 and above are said to be developmentally ready in making medical decisions such as for vaccines and acquiring suggested health care treatment where there are risky consequences in case they fail to receive them. Some states like Delaware and California have laws that allow adolescents as young as the age of 12 to acquire medical attention without their parental consent in cases such as reproduction healthcare and vaccination. Other states like Alaska permit clinicians to determine whether the adolescents are incapable of making these decisions on their own if the parent or guardian does not agree with the medical advice (Scherer et al., 2021). Consequently, adolescents need not be harmed by their parents’ decisions. Letting adolescents accord to vaccination despite their parental resistance enables access to a medically endorsed treatment.
At times, adolescents tend to commonly consider perspectives of family and peers, including how their medical decision will affect other people. This determines the extent to which they depend on others when deciding. Social location and life experience also contribute to the adolescents’ desire for autonomy and belief that their own opinion needs to be appreciated. In addition, adolescents tend to consider expectations and perceptions of their social networks and peers when making a medical decision and any other decision. In this case, clinicians need to understand how much the adolescent is weighing others’ opinions in decision-making and promoting their health.
Part 2
In this part, I will be analyzing the statement that “Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine should be accessible to all the Grade 7 students in the public school system without parental consent”. So first, it’s good to understand that the HPV vaccine helps protect the body against the infection with particular types of HPV. HPV infection may trigger abnormal tissue growth, like warts and other deviations to the cells. This vaccination is cancer prevention thus essential. It is projected to cause closely 36,000 cancer cases in women and men every year in the U.S. HPV vaccination may prevent 33,000 of these particular cancers by preventing infections that trigger them (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2021).
I very well agree that the HPV vaccine should be available to all grade 7 students in the public school system. This is because it is recommended for girls and boys in their early youth to be protected against HPV infections that trigger cancer. It is vital vaccinating these kids well before they involve in sexual activity and potentially exposed to HPV. Despite this, I also disagree that these students should be vaccinated in the public school system without parental consent. Generally, while at school, the parent or guardian will require signing a consent form for their kids to have a vaccine. It may be uncooperative talking to the parents or guardian about having the vaccine as it may encompass talking of sex. But it is significant for these kids and their patients to understand that though one may not be thinking of sex now, this vaccine is best provided at a young age when the body makes the best immune response to it. There can be a great impact with this vaccine in terms of side effects to the children, for instance, pain, redness, or swelling in the arm where it was shot, fevers, dizziness or fainting. If there was no consent with the parent before vaccination, issues might rise where the patients can get to the extent of involving the law for these adverse effects.
