Immunizations are a very important part of the public health system at all population levels. At an individual level immunizations promote health by preventing certain diseases from occurring. At a community level immunizations work to create herd immunity which helps to protect individuals who aren't able to be vaccinated. According to the text "herd immunity is a state in which those not immune to an infectious agent will be protected if a certain proportion (generally considered to be 80%) of the population has been vaccinated or is otherwise immune" (Nies & McEwen, 2011, p. 496). At a national level immunization efforts can cause elimination of a certain disease within a specific geographic area and at a world-wide level immunizations can lead to eradication (Nies & McEwen, 2011).
There is no doubt that immunizations are an extremely important aspect of public health and it is important that all populations are aware of these benefits and have access to vaccination services. One specific intervention from the public health wheel that could be beneficial when discussing immunization efforts is outreach. "Outreach locates populations of interest at risk and provides information about the nature of concern, what can be done about it and how services can be obtained" (Nies & McEwen, 2011, p. 15). In order to successfully implement an outreach plan basic steps much be taken.
The first step in outreach is identifying the problem, in this case immunizations. Then we must locate a population at risk such as a community with limited access to health care services or one that lacks knowledge about vaccinations. After identifying the problem and population it is necessary to determine interest and learning needs. Tailoring a plan specific to a population promotes adherence. For any outreach plan to be successful there needs to be adequate resources, funds and people involved. In order for a successful outreach plan to be implemented all these components and others must work together to meet a common goal.
A real life example can be taken from an article from the American Journal of Public Health. This article discusses attempts made to improve childhood immunization practices in an urban city in New York. The plan, Start Right, was implemented in a Latino urban community where vaccination rates were very low. The program relied upon outreach, education and immunization reminders to increase immunization rates among children. Upon evaluation the plan appears to be successful. The children in the Start Right program were 53% more likely to be up-to-date on immunizations when compared to children in the controlled group (Findley, 2008). As seen through this specific study outreach interventions can be successful in improving immunization efforts.
References
Findley, S.E., Irigoyen, M., Sanchez, M., Stockwell, M. S., Mejia, M., Guxman, L., & Andres-Martinez, R. (2008).
Effectiveness of a community coalition for improving child vaccination rates in new york city. American Journal of
Public Health, 98(11), 1959-1962.
Nies, M.A. & McEwen, M. (2011). Community/public health nursing: Promotion the health of populations (5th ed.) St.
Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier.
I think you presented some wonderful ideas about the necessities of vaccinating children. Outreach works well with your teaching and learning project and is necessary in eradicating some diseases in the United States today by targeting the populations that have lower rates of vaccinations. Also, you mentioned that not only does it benefit the community or population as a whole, but also the individual receiving the vaccinations. I don’t think parents are really aware of the importance of vaccinating their children and how it affects others in the community. By providing the parents and children in the community with the education they need, they can better understand the importance of the immunizations.
ReplyDeleteI think you summarized the article you found very well. The Start Right program sounds like a very good program and has been successful. I also think that it has the potential to spread to other communities in need and be successful as well. In an article that I found from the American Journal of Public Health it stated that many states in the US had very low percentages of children who received all vaccinations as recommended. In 2005, Mississippi had only 2% of the children up to date on all vaccinations (Luman et al, 2005). The article also suggested that reminding clients of upcoming vaccinations or already scheduled visits to receive vaccinations would be beneficial in keeping patients up to date.
Luman, Elizabeth T., Barker, Lawrence E., McCauley, Mary Mason, and Drews-Botsch, Carolyn. (2005). Timeliness of Childhood Immunizations: A State-Specific Analysis. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 95 (No. 8), pp. 1367-1374.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.046284
I think you did a great job organizing and presenting the information on the importance of vaccinations to protect not only yourself, but also others in the community. Doing further research on the percentage of American children who receive vaccinations, a recent study found that 49 percent of children under the age of two received late or did not receive all the recommended vaccinations. These children are “nine times more likely to get chickenpox and 23 times more likely to get whooping cough than fully immunized children” (“Study Finds Nearly Half”, 2013).
ReplyDeleteWhich made me start to think, why is the American population not getting vaccinated? Why take the risk? Understandably, a certain percentage of the population will be unable to be vaccinated due to age, health conditions, or other factors such as finances. But what about the rest of the population who are eligible, physically and financially, to receive the vaccinations?
An October 2011 Times article, highlighting a study done in the journal Pediatrics, reported that one in ten parents skip or delay vaccinations. Researchers found that “those who decided not to vaccinate their children against known vaccine-preventable disease, such as chicken pox, flu, mumps, measles, and rubella, acknowledged that their decision could put other children in the community at risk of becoming infected, but they believed their own child would remain healthy” (Park, 2011).
This is where your outreach plan is so vitally important. The National Vaccine Information Center calculates that the average child gets 49 doses of 14 vaccines before age 6. It is easy for parents to get overwhelmed and make decisions based on inaccurate information and assumptions. This makes it even more important to provide current and accurate education to parents so they can talk with their providers to make the best decision for the children.
References
49 doses of 14 vaccines before age 6? (n.d). Retrieved from
http://www.nvic.org/Downloads/49-Doses-PosterB.aspx
Park, A. (2011, Oct 03). 1 in 10 parents skip or delay vaccines.
Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/03/more-than-1-
in-10-parents-skip-or-delay-vaccines/
Study finds nearly half of U.S. kids are under-vaccinated. (2013,
Jan 21). Retrieved from http://www.womenshealth.gov/news/
HealthDay/EN/2013/Jan/21/672654.html
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