JAAPA : official journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
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Religious objections to vaccines are in the news, but clinician engagement with patients' underlying religious objections has been minimal, presumably because clinicians lack tools to respectfully address these objections while honoring patient autonomy. This article introduces a four-step framework for exploring and responding to a patient's stated religious objections to vaccination, culminating in suggested approaches for respectful and collaborative discussions to encourage optimum patient protection consistent with informed consent and patient belief systems. Three hypothetical situations are presented and evaluated.