Title: Effectiveness of Community-based Strategies for Promoting Immunizations
1Effectiveness of Community-based Strategies for
Promoting Immunizations
- Sally Findley, Martha Sanchez, Michelle Sajous,
Letty Guzman, Matilde Irigoyen - Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition
- Columbia University
-
2Our Challenge
- Immunization rates remain low, with practice
assessment rates of 57. - Many children start the immunization series on
time, but then fail to complete the series. - Efforts to improve immunizations solely through
changes at the doctors office are not enough
we must make changes in how families seek care
and obtain immunizations.
3Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition
Background
- Community of Northern Manhattan includes Harlem
and Washington Heights/Inwood - Coalition of 23 community organizations, led by
Mailman School of Public Health - Supported by CDC as part of the Reach 2010 program
4Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition Goals
- Target Population Under-immunized children
under age 3 (33 of the total cohort of 35,000) - Goal To enroll and bring up-to-date 2,000
children per year (UTD per 43133 series)
5How We Integrated Immunization and Service
Activities
- Worked with ongoing coalitions of organizations
committed to improving immunizations - Reviewed regular service activities to identify
strategies for integrating immunization outreach - Identified five program areas where immunization
outreach can be incorporated into regular work - Developed a training program to enable staff to
carry out this work
6Start Rights Five Strategies
- Co-madre or peer-led parenting classes
- Child care providers
- WIC linkage
- Housing or tenants associations
- Facilitated Enrollment
7Start Right Training Process
- Bilingual training manual
- Contains the topics for each session and
supporting reference material - In-house training
- Our own staff, complemented by New York City DOH
health educators - Convenient training sessions
- Training offered frequently and on-site to
respond to staffing changes - Pre- and post-test for each session
- Feedback and course evaluation after each session
- Periodic refreshers
8Start Right Training Sessions
- Immunization 101 Introduction to childhood
illnesses and immunizations - Card Reading Immunization schedules and
determining current status - Parent Empowerment How to work with parents to
keep kids up-to-date - Implementation The five Start Right strategies
- Tracking our Work Follow-up and Evaluation
9Coalition Members Trained, n610
10Immunization 101 Post-Test Scores
(n98)
11Completion of Training
- Training certificate from Mailman School of
Public Health - Start Right Coalition T-shirt
- Start Right attache case
12Feedback on the Training
- Because I have had the training I have been able
to make sure my child is up-to-date and other
participants children are up-to-date and can
explain the importance of being up-to-date. - The training has helped me in many ways, such as
learning to read the immunization card. Also, the
training gave me the information to help clarify
the myths regarding illnesses and immunizations.
13Confidence from Training Pays Off
- Outreach workers have been able to organize
events and enroll families. - They are creating innovative ways of working with
parents and integrating the immunization message
into their regular work. - They have the facts about diseases and they use
them to convince parents to have their children
vaccinated.
14How Start Right Outreach Workers Recruit Parents
(n38)
15Enrollment by Start Right Strategy
(n 1989)
16How Start Right Outreach Workers Empower Parents
- Parent empowerment sessions
- Individual
- Group
- Reminders When Next Shot Is Due
- Many informal reminders when ever parent is at
program, phone calls, post cards, home visit, at
program events
17Feedback from Parents
- The program made me more aware about my childs
immunization and how important it is to have them
done on time. My child has some of his shots,
but the program help me to make and keep
appointments for the rest of my childs shots. - It helped me understand more about the shots. I
liked most learning what the shots are for, what
diseases they prevent. Before I did not know
what the shots prevented and when to get them.
18Thanking Parents for Participation
- Enrollment gifts
- Personalized calendar with baby photo
- Milestone gifts (at 6 12 months)
- Completion certificate and gift
- Holiday parties and special events
19Impact on Immunization Status
20Conclusions
- Community social service organizations can
integrate immunization outreach into regular
program activities. - Training has empowered community workers to be
advocates for immunizations with parents. - Tailoring the actual strategy elements to the
program is key to effective outreach and
follow-up. -
- This integration has payoffs Parents are getting
enrolled.