Factors influencing childhood vaccine hesitancy and interventions for parents and caregivers from ethnic minority backgrounds in the United Kingdom to encourage uptake: a systematic review

Abstract

Childhood vaccine hesitancy remains a significant public health concern, especially as it relates to ethnic minority population in the United Kingdom, who are reluctant to engage in uptake and record a higher number of unvaccinated children. Yet, there remains a significant research gap on the factors driving ethnic minorities parental hesitancy of childhood vaccination and interventions to improve uptake for the affected population in the UK, which is the primary aim and contribution of the present review. The review strategy was underpinned by the Population, phenomenon of Interest and Context (PICo) model. Hence, the Population (parents and caregivers from ethnic minority backgrounds), the phenomenon of Interest (factors fostering parental childhood vaccine hesitancy and interventions to encourage uptake), and the Context (Vaccine hesitancy). For qualitative studies, the PICo strategy, which is a modified version of PICO, was used. Boolean operators (AND/OR/NOT) were used to ensure rigor and were adopted in the formulation of search terms. Eight databases were searched (PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ProQuest Central, and Scopus) for published articles between 2002 and June 2026. N  = 10 studies met the inclusion criteria, and the relevant data were synthesized using a thematic synthesis approach. The review protocol was pre-registered on the PROSPERO Registry (no. CRD420261358747). The synthesized studies and analyses yielded the following main findings. (i) Skepticism about vaccines, (ii) Distrust in health professionals and policy, (iii) Poor understanding and limited information about vaccines, (iv) Social network and family influence and (v) communication-based intervention. Childhood vaccine hesitancy remains a challenge; the review recommends culturally adapted public health promotion messages and interventions to encourage uptake, to be tested using randomized controlled trials.