Describing the understanding, attitude and behaviors of families who rejected the newborn screening program and the reasons for rejection

Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe the reasons for rejection of the Newborn Screening Program within the scope of preventive health services presented in primary health care institutions. Material and method: The research is a phenomenological study which is a qualitative research type. A face-to-face interview was conducted with 15 parents, who refused to participate Newborn Screening Program, at their permanent addresses. The interviews were recorded and deciphered. The script was interpreted by content analysis method. MAXQDA was used for data processing and analyzing. Results: As a result of the interviews, individuals discussed their health behaviors with internal and external factors. The results were interpreted within the framework of the Citation Theory, Health Belief Model and Ecological System Approach. Conclusion: It was found that mothers believed that their babies would be harmed while taking a heel blood sample and they acted with a protection instinct. In addition, communication problems between individuals and health-care personnel and insufficient inform were found to cause the rejection of Newborn Screening Program. It is concluded that the doctor's power maintained in the health-care system and individuals develop health behaviors in direction of the doctors discourse but this case does not valid to Newborn Screening Program. Other factors effective in the rejection of Newborn Screening Program were found to be religious beliefs, family, desire for natural life depending on culture and traditional practices, the choice of alternative medicine, the distrust of public institutions and negative impact of the media. Key words: Rejection of health care, preventive health care, Newborn Screening Program, social work, public health