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Allisyn Moran, MHS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1001 St. Paul St. #4B, Baltimore, MD 21202, (410) 837-1332, amoran@jhsph.edu, Jane Sarwin, MA, MPH, Gateway Maternal and Child Health Consortium, 381 Woodside Avenue, Newark, NJ 07104, and Fannie Fonseca-Becker, DrPH, MPH, Dept. of Population and Family Health Services, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johnson & Johnson Community Health Evalutaion Scholars Program, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202.
Vaccines were among the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. They are credited with preventing disability and death from infectious diseases in individuals and communities. The Healthy People 2010 objective for achieving vaccination coverage levels among children 0-35 months is 90%. At 59%, Newark, New Jersey has the lowest completion rate for childhood vaccines nationwide, compared to 74% for the State and 74% nationally. Through Medicaid, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides free vaccines to qualified children. While this program addresses financial barriers, it does not address other healthcare barriers including poverty, lack of education, and poor record-keeping of immunized children. The Toddlers Rapid Immunization Program (TRIP) eliminates traditional barriers to immunization. Medical care providers travel directly to needy children at locations including their homes, clinics, shelters, and food pantries. TRIP provides age-appropriate infant immunizations on an on-going basis, improves immunization awareness and builds trust between families and local health providers. Based on in-depth interviews with community leaders and focus groups with mothers of children under two, a pilot program in Irvington, NJ, Newark's sister city, was implemented. The State's new web-based registry, the New Jersey Immunization Information System (NJIIS), will track numbers of children immunized and receiving follow-up immunizations. Number of families and organizations receiving immunization education will be tracked through program records. The program will be evaluated by measuring organizations' immunization knowledge and providers' record-keeping knowledge. Social network techniques will be used to monitor the effectiveness of a community-based infant immunization coalition in Irvington.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Immunizations, Access to Health Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.