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In 1998 a “ground breaking” study entitled “Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children” (now retracted), was released and would forever change the course of society’s attitudes toward vaccinations. Published in The Lancet, a prestigious British Medical Journal, Dr. Wakefield (1998) and his team purported to find a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and the development of autism and colitis in children. While he has since been discredited, having been found to have fabricated his data (among other things), this paper would leave a black mark on what has been called “one of the greatest public health success stories” (Poland & Jacobson, 2001). This in turn has resulted in the resurgence of the “anti-vaccine movement”. While there have been various anti-vaccine movements since vaccinations were initially introduced, it is beginning to show growing momentum not only in North America, but in Western Europe, Japan and Australia (Poland & Jacobson, 2001). The implications of this are massive. Many countries are seeing a decrease and even complete “cessation of vaccine programs” which, not surprisingly, has led to an “increase in morbidity and mortality” (Poland & Jacobson, 2001). In 2010 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States released an information statement highlighting the dangers of non-vaccination due to personal beliefs. From 2010 to 2013 alone there were 834 reported cases of measles including 118 in 2011 which was the highest outbreak since 1996. In the US up to 20% of measles cases are hospitalized, and in countries where vaccinations are not well spread the death rate is 3 out of every 100 cases. From 2000-2012 at least...

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...vention strategies (McEachan, Conner, Taylor & Lawton, 2011).

Research Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to Predict Health Behaviours

In 2011 McEachan, Conner, Taylor and Lawton conducted a meta-analysis comprising of 206 studies testing the theory of planned behaviour. They found that the theory of planned behaviour is a good predictor of intention and behaviour across many health behaviours strategies (McEachan, Conner, Taylor & Lawton, 2011). The researchers found that behaviour type (e.g. health promoting vs health risk behaviours) was a moderator and that behaviours such as physical activity and diet related behaviours were especially well predicted. They also highlighted how age is a predicting factor for specific behaviours and relationships and concluded that this theory is a useful tool for designing intervention strategies to change health behaviours.