Transcript Community Change - Barbara Lentz

Community Change
By: Emily Alpers, Shirley Iler,
Barbara Lentz, & Sharon Lumbert
Review of Findings
 Problem statement: Adults aged 65 and older in Kent County,
Michigan are at risk of hospitalization and death related to failure
to obtain yearly influenza (flu) shots as evidence by data showing
that 32.9% of the elderly in Kent County have not received the flu
shot (AccessKent).
 After reviewing the evidence, we find that the difference in this
population is that the majority of the elderly are uneducated on the
benefits of the immunization. There are other differences like
transportation issues and cost of the injection.
 Our goal is to see 90% of seniors in Kent County are receiving the
flu vaccine. Our proposed intervention is focused on education and
the specifics will be discussed fully throughout this power point.
Interventions
The Who, What, When,
Where, Why and How?
 This flu season, we will be targeting those in the Kent
County area who are 65-years-old and older. These
individuals show a higher percentage of not receiving
the flu vaccine when compared to the rest of counties
in Michigan. Our primary goal and intervention will
focus on education.
What will we do specifically?
 Create an educational flier.
 Contact local TV and radio stations for free air time and local newspapers for
free adds.
 Recruit volunteers to post bulletins at buildings and businesses frequented by
seniors.
 Send educational fliers by mail to homes of seniors.
 Contact local home health care agencies to have their nurses provide shots to
clients and have volunteer nurses go to homes to provide shots.
 Enlist public transportation in Kent County to offer free rides to seniors on
certain days to the locations available for flu vaccines.

Schedule immunization clinics during daytime hours for convenience purposes
for the elderly
 Set up a fast lane for elderly to reduce their wait time.
Best Practices
The nature of vaccinations makes this a primary
prevention as the intervention is taking place before
illness. Targeting the elderly population would be a
branch off of this primary prevention. A secondary
prevention will take place by targeting the family
members, places of worship, and pharmacies of the
elderly.
Has this intervention
been done before?
 Educational information has been given out before and
the Vaccine Information Sheet provides a lot of
educational material. Local television advertisements
have also been aired before for multiple things,
including immunizations, breast cancer awareness and
drug abuse. These ads are often part of local TV
networks. These programs have been effective, but,
could be more effective by targeting our population
group in the county, adding increased incentives, and
making it cost efficient.
Evidence-Based Practice
 The evidence-based practice that best fits this
intervention is the decreased rate of vaccinated people
over the age of 65 coupled with the hospitalization rate
for the flu of that age group. This evidence makes the
importance of education on the flu vaccine and
availability highly important.
Adequate Local Resources
 Kent County has 6 available places through the health
department where individuals can receive the flu shot.
The flu vaccine can also be received through many
pharmacies, including Rite Aide and Walgreens. There
are also urgent cares and doctor’s offices that provide
vaccines as well.
What else might be needed?
 Education is our primary focus. Providing education on
the importance of the vaccine, where to receive the
vaccine, and how to get to a place where one can
receive the vaccine is part of our educational plan. We
have also examined what insurances will cover the
vaccine as many people over the age of 65 will likely
have Medicare. According to the Medicare website,
those with Part B coverage will have the flu vaccine
covered 100% (Medicare Part B).
Community Interests
 The statistics regarding the flu vaccination and hospital
admissions for the flu for those over the age of 65
makes it clear that these interventions would fit well
with community interests. It is estimated that 90% of
seasonal flu related deaths and more than 60% of
seasonal flu related hospitalizations in the United
States each year are people 65 and over (CDC, 2010).
Permission
 Local television networks would need to be contacted
to see if they would be willing to run advertisements for
free regarding this education. Local free newspapers
and coupon fliers would need to be contacted as well.
Local transportation services would need to be
contacted to determine if they are willing to provide free
transportation to the elderly.
Evaluation
Desired Outcome
The desired outcome would be to increase the
percentage of people in Kent county, 65 years of age
and older, who receive the influenza (flu) vaccine. This,
in turn, would decrease the amount of hospitalizations
and death due to contracting influenza.
Anticipated Time Frame
 According to the government website for Michigan,
MIShots 2012 will evaluate the progress annually for
vaccine coverage; therefore, a change should be noted
within a year. Review of influenza and pneumococcal
vaccination will occur at least annually at long-term
care facilities using results from other data sources
(michigan.gov, 2011). In order to see any real progress
in the change we anticipate the evaluation in 2020
would give us a more accurate percentage.
Outcomes to be Tracked
 The short-term outcomes that we will track are reported cases of
influenza among people >65 years of age, hospitalization due to
complications from influenza, and follow up on the benefits of the
educational materials that we instituted.
 At each of the immunization site’s a flyer/questionnaire will be handed
out with the immunization information which would include:
 How did you hear about this site?
 What public information did you find beneficial and educational?
 Were you assisted to your site by public transportation at low or no cost?
 Were you reached via telephone by the “phone a friend for prevention
program”?
 Do you feel more educated regarding the importance and benefits of the
influenza vaccine this year than you were last year? If so, how?
Tracking Changes
 There are available measures in place that would help
track any changes in the elderly population >65 who
have adopted or disregarded the belief that there are
benefits to getting the flu shot. The annual surveillance
that the local health department observes provides us
with previous years immunization records. The website
for this information can be obtained at
http://www.accesskent.com/Health/HealthDepartment/F
lu/.
The End
Thank You!
Emily
Barbara
Sharon
Shirley
References
Access Kent (n.d.) Flu Vaccine Information. Retrieved on November 6, 2011
www.accesskent.com/ Health/HealthDepartment/Flu/.
from: http:/ /
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2010). What You Should Know and Do this Flu
Season If You Are 65 Years and Older: Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/65over.htm
Harkness, G. A., DeMarco, R. F., (2012). Community and Public Health Nursing: Evidence
for Practice. Philadephia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Medicare.gov (n.d.) Medicare Part B: Medical Insurance. Retrieved on November 15, 2011
from: http://www.medicare.gov/navigation/medicare-basics/medicarebenefits/part-b.aspx.
State of Michigan (2011). Population Vaccination Assessment. Retreived on November 4,
2011 from: http://michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-2940_2955_22779_
40563_48357-202902 ,00.html.