Does your community have immunity? mobilizing parents who immunize to influence their vaccine-hesitant peers through community engagement approaches

To address vaccine-hesitancy and the high vaccine exemption rate in Washington State, Vax Northwest (a public-private partnership) is testing a three-year community engagement intervention (called Immunity Community) that activates parents who value immunization. The Immunity Community intervention mobilizes parents as advocates by increasing their confidence to speak out in support of immunization in their own communities – like schools, pre-schools, childcare centers, and other venues where parents gather and share information. The goal of the Immunity Community intervention is to increase conversations about the positive aspects of vaccination and to encourage parents to embrace vaccination as a community priority. The Immunity Community intervention is being evaluated to determine the acceptance and implementation of campaign materials, awareness of campaign messages and change in attitudes about the value of immunization. The evaluation uses both qualitative and quantitative methods, including document review; key informant interviews with program staff, parents, site leaders and Vax Northwest representatives; media monitoring; parent surveys; and focus groups. Evaluation findings for year one suggest that parents who vaccinate can be mobilized and engaged as advocates given the appropriate resources and support. Recommendations from each year of the Immunity Community intervention are incorporated to improve on the intervention moving forward. The presentation will include findings from the first two years of the intervention.