4183.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 3:30 PM

Abstract #11055

Building a community coalition to improve access to immunization for rural elderly

Ruth Ann Tsukuda, MPH, Oregon Geriatric Education Center, Portland Veteran Affairs Medical Center, PO Box 1034, VA Medical Center, Portland, OR 97207, 503-273-5227, ruth.tsukuda@med.va.gov, Laura Faherty, MPH, Wasco-Sherman Public Health Department, 419 East 7th, Room 100, The Dalles, OR 97058, Julie Reynolds, Oregon Geriatric Education Center, Portland State University, 1617 Oregon Avenue, The Dalles, OR 97058, and Sherril Gelmon, DrPH, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751-PA, Portland, OR 97207-0751, 503-725-3044, gelmons@pdx.edu.

An effective community coalition to address issues of immunization for rural elderly has been established as a pilot project of the Wasco-Sherman Health Department in Oregon, in conjunction with the Oregon Geriatric Education Center, faculty in the Oregon Masters of Public Health Program, and the Oregon Health Division. The specific focus of the project is to improve the health of rural elderly by identifying immunization rates and working with providers and consumers to increase immunizations. The primary strategy to achieve this goal is to develop an effective community coalition of providers from physician practices, the health department, the local hospital, local nursing homes, representatives of county government, and faculty from local academic institutions. The project team has guided the work of the coalition in using and applying principles of continuous improvement as it developed and implemented changes in immunization approaches. The Oregon Health Division is interested in lessons learned from this project with the intent of disseminating the model to other counties in Oregon.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the learner wil be able to: to describe a model for collaboration to improve health; identify situations in their own environment where they can apply this model of collaboration to improve specific health outcomes. During this session faculty will: describe a model for collaboration to improve health; illustrate how the resources of the coalition can be effectively used to build awareness and gain commitment of community providers; discuss barriers and challenges to successful community collaboration and coalition-building and how these barriers can be overcome

Keywords: Immunizations, Aging

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA