141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

288151
School-based flu clinics: Engaging the community to promote flu vaccinations for school-age youth

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Marty Aleman, MAN, PHN , Healthy Communities (Primary Prevention), Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN
Shaylene Baumbach, BS , Healthy Communities Division, Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN
Preventing disease and keeping our children healthy is a priority for all of us. One of the best ways to protect our children's health is through vaccinations. Seasonal influenza is a serious disease that can spread quickly among children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children typically have the highest attack rates during community outbreaks of the flu and children can spread the illness very quickly to their friends, neighbors and family members. Protecting our children from influenza protects all of us. During the 2010 H1N1 pandemic, local public health, the schools and local health care providers convened to plan how to provide school-located flu clinics in a cost efficient manner. Building upon this collaboration, this group has continued to expand a model to offer school flu clinics at 29 elementary schools in our county in 2012. This presentation will describe the model used, lessons learned and what the impact these clinics have had on both immunization and illness rates in this population of school age youth in our community.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe the community engagement process used to plan and implement school-based flu clinics with local public health, healthcare providers and schools Describe the impact of school flu clinics on the community’s immunization rates as well as absenteeism due to influenza.

Keywords: School Health, Community Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Marty Alemán is a Public Health Nursing Manager for Olmsted County Public Health Services whose responsibilities include oversight of the School Public Health Nurses and several community based health promotion programs. She has a strong commitment to working on issues of health disparities in the community and has been actively involved in several community based participatory research initiatives. She received her Masters of Arts in Nursing in Transformational Leadership from Augsburg College.
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.

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