Increase in flu vaccinations due to county and health/faith partnership

Los Angeles County, with 10.4 million residents, is divided into eight geographic areas called Service Planning Areas (SPAs). Metropolitan Service Planning Area (SPA 4) has approximately 1.4 million residents. In 2008, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reduced the number of flu vaccine outreach events, but encouraged collaboration with community-based organizations in order to promote population-based flu vaccination.

QueensCare Health and Faith Partnership (QHFP) is a community-trusted interfaith parish nurse and health outreach program that has built a network of 64 partnering agencies which include faith- and community-based service organizations. QHFP operates in SPA 4 providing free registered nurse consultation and health promotion activities targeted toward low-income minorities and the uninsured.

The SPA 4 community liaison program began collaborating with QHFP in 2002 and a strong relationship was built between Public Health and QHFP. The two agencies worked together to provide health education and link clients to services. Due to the established collaboration with SPA 4, QHFP was able obtain 3,600 doses of free flu vaccine (a monetary value of approximately $36,000) in 2008. Central Health Center, one of two Public Health Centers in SPA 4, gave 5,086 flu vaccines during this campaign. Of this total, 2,839 (55.8%) were administered through QHFP. In partnering with QHFP, Public Health was able to provide resources that could be effectively and efficiently delivered to the community through an established and trusted network. Both Public Health and QHFP benefited from this partnership in terms of resource sharing and public health outreach.