Date of Conferral

4-2-2026

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Health Sciences

Advisor

Richard Jimenez

Abstract

Shingles (herpes zoster) causes substantial morbidity, especially among adults over age 50 in the United States. There is a need to better understand the reasons behind low vaccination rates among adults over age 50 given the associated risks for infection and adverse health outcomes that can reduce their quality of life. This qualitative interpretative phenomenological study explored how individuals’ perceptions of the benefits, barriers, susceptibility, and severity of shingles influence vaccine intentions and identified what factors influence vaccine uptake. The health belief model was used to guide the study. Data were collected from one-on-one semistructured virtual interviews with eight adults over age 50 who live in Riverside County, California and who had not received a single dose of the shingles vaccine. Reflective thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The predominant view of participants was a general distrust of vaccine safety and efficacy stemming from not knowing what is in vaccines, fear of side effects, discomfort with putting something they do not trust in their bodies, distrust of government oversight and pharmaceutical companies, and cost of vaccine uptake being prohibitive. The social change implications of the findings may inform future life-course immunization programs that could increase the uptake of vaccines in this population, which may improve the quality of life for older adults, thereby promoting healthy aging and improved societal well-being.

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