Title: Identifying Immunization Barriers Among Asian American Children: Results and Recommendations Asian H
1Identifying Immunization Barriers Among Asian
American ChildrenResults and RecommendationsAs
ian Health Coalition of IllinoisMay 13, 2004
2IBAAC Project-Funding
- Funded by the American Academy of Pediatrics
- Funded through the CATCH Program
- Community Access to Child Health
- CATCH is the area in the AAP that highlights care
of children in their respective communities
3Asian Health Coalition of Illinois
- Mission
- To improve the health and well-being of
- Asian Americans and Pacific Islander
- (AAPIs) in Illinois.
4Asian Health Coalition
- Areas of work
- Advocacy, technical assistance, education,
- and community-based research
- Members
- Health care providers, community-based
organizations, social service providers, public
health departments, researchers, students
5AHCI Programs
- Cultural competence training
- HIV prevention capacity-building assistance
- Tobacco control (cessation and prevention/awarenes
s) - Childhood immunization
- Annual conference
- Quarterly membership meetings
- Information, Referral, Listserve
6IBAAC-Background
- Project developed in 2000 in response to data
indicating a downward trend in immunization rates
among Asian American children - Project conducted focus groups in 6 Chicago Asian
communities -
7AAPI Population Percent Increase in 6 Illinois
Counties, 1990-2000
8Who are AAPIs in Illinois? (1 of 2)
9Who are AAPIs in Illinois? (2 of 2)
10Access to CarePercentage of Uninsured AAPIs
(2001)
11IBAAC Project-Advisory Committee
- Principal Investigator
- Dennis L. Vickers,MD,MPH IWS
- Committee Members/ Agencies
- Fred Kviz, Ph.D UIC SPH
- Hong Liu, Ph.D IHEC
- Julie Morita, MD CDPH
- Joanna Su,MSW AHCI
- Virginia Warren,RN,MPH IHEC
- Student Interns
- Richa Aggarwal
- Michelle Choi,RN,MSN
12IBAAC-Partner Agencies
- Cambodian Association of Illinois
- Chinese American Service League
- Indo-American Center
- Korean American Community Services
- Lao American Community Services
- Vietnamese Association of Illinois
13IBAAC Project Methods
- Focus group format
- Trained bilingual bicultural moderators
- Audiotaped proceedings transcribed
- into English
- Written summary report
14Participants
- N67 Range 7-15
- Participants received a 25 stipend
- Discussion centered on 6 questions
15Focus Groups Questions
- 1. What are the good or positive things that come
to mind when you think about childhood
immunizations? - 2. What are the things about childhood
immunization that you think are not so good? - 3. What problems have you experienced in getting
your child immunized?
16Focus Group Questions
- 4. When you take your children to get
immunizations, what problems have you had in
communicating with your childrens health care
provider? - 5. Do you have any concerns, problems, or
questions about childhood immunizations? - 6. What suggestions do you have that might solve
the problems that we have talked about today?
17IBAAC Results
18Demographics
- All participants were foreign born
- Only 8 identified English as their primary
language - 97 reported having a primary care provider for
their child
19Health Insurance Status
- Insured 90
- Medicaid 36
- KidCare 22
- Private Insurance 31
- Uninsured 10
20Communication with Provider
- 48 reported speaking to their provider in their
native language - 26 reported speaking English to their provider
- 17 reported using a friend or relative as an
interpreter
21Perceptions of Immunizations
- 71 reported being very concerned about the
effects of childhood diseases
22Identified Barriers
- Cost
- Language
- Information and Records
- Appointments
- Provider Choice
23 Cost
- Some participants mentioned that they paid as
much as 50-60 for each immunization - Many participants were unaware of how to access
free immunizations
24 Language
- Many participants stated that they had great
difficulty communicating with their doctors - Many participants reported difficulty
understanding written material
25 Information and Records
- Doctors do not provide an explanation of the
immunizations that children are receiving - Immunization records are confusing
- Concerned that physicians do not have up to date
records
26 Appointments
- Difficulty in scheduling appointments
- Wait-times up to 2 hrs to see doctors
- Walk in appointments
- Scheduled appointments
27 Provider Choice
- Some participants complained that it was
difficult to know which doctors are providing
quality care
28Recommendations
- Increase access to free immunization services
- Increase awareness of existing free immunization
services - Decrease language barriers
- Provide effective immunization materials to
limited English proficient communities - Educate communities about provider choice
29As a resultsteps taken
30First Step
- Increase Asian American (AA) community based
organizations, Public Health, Illinois Chapter of
the American Academy of Pediatrics and Chicago
Area Immunization Campaign (CAIC) collaborations
31Increase Access to Immunizations
- AA community-based organizations can schedule and
promote mobile immunization clinics - CDPH CareVan
- Identify other sources of free immunization
services
32Increase Awareness of Free Immunization Services
- CDPH and CAIC can provide materials to AA
community-based organizations - Increase awareness of existing free immunization
programs - Vaccines for Childrens Program
- CDPH Fasttrack clinics
- CDPH Neighborhood Health Centers
- CDPH, CAIC and AA community-based organizations
can work with ethnic media as a vehicle for
disseminating information on free immunization
services
33Decrease Language Barriers
- CDPH and ICAAP can educate providers
- Obligation to offer interpretation services to
limited English proficient patients - Provide interpretation resources to providers
- Availability of translated immunization education
materials such as Vaccine Information Statements
(VIS) available from www.immunize.org - Consider audiotapes and videotapes as a means of
reaching populations with low literacy
34Decrease Language Barriers
- CDPH, CAIC and AA community based organizations
- Increase awareness of existing translated
immunization education materials such as the VISs
available from www.immunize.org - Translate Vaccine Information Statements into
additional languages (Hindi and Urdu) - Translate school immunization requirements
35Provide Immunization Education Materials to AA
Communities
- CDPH, CAIC, and AA community organizations will
develop a community education curriculum and
materials - Overview of disease and immunizations
- Explanation of the childhood immunization records
- Encourage AA parents to ask questions of their
providers - Provide ways of evaluating and selecting health
care providers