220603 Applying the RE-AIM framework to policy: The example of vaccine policy

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Jo Ann Shoup, MSW , Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver, CO
Russell E. Glasgow, PhD , Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
Vaccines have been acknowledged as one of the most significant contributions to public health in the past century. Through mandatory vaccine policy in the United States, many vaccine-preventable diseases, such as smallpox and poliomyelitis, have resulted in a significant decline in infectious disease mortality and morbidity. However, there have been recent increases in rates of exempting out of vaccines, causing concerns for individual and community health. Maintaining this successful public health infrastructure is an important strategy for policy makers, medical providers, school officials, and parent groups. Additionally, there have been few health policy planning and evaluation frameworks developed to assess the public health impact of policy design and development, policy implementation, and policy change. Using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) framework to evaluate the relative impact of changes in vaccine policy, we can assess short-term and long-term outcomes of population public health relative to a variety of infectious disease and policy scenarios. This expansion of the RE-AIM framework into the policy analysis process allows for an improved communication tool in demonstrating the impact of policy change to a wider audience. Using the example of Colorado vaccine policy, we demonstrate the application of RE-AIM framework to inform public health policy. The case study validates, through example, the applicability of the RE-AIM framework to inform the potential impact of various policy scenarios. Future application of the RE-AIM framework to vaccine policy may include the comparative effectiveness and integration of public health strategies designed to improve vaccine coverage rates.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
• Identify the implications of vaccine policy as a strategy to maintain our public health infrastructure • Describe elements of the RE-AIM model as relevant to vaccine policy • Identify the broader application of RE-AIM as an emerging policy tool to communicate the impact of vaccine policies to public health officials, policymakers, school officials, parent groups, and medical providers.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a project manager of a large, multi-site vaccine safety project which uses surveillance and epidemiological methodology to investigate vaccine safety across the United States. Additionally, my training is in health policy, I’ve obtained a Master’s in Science in Health Policy and I am currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Affairs.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.