KEYWORDS:
Seniors, referrals, information, toll-free national telephone service

BACKGROUND:
The CDC National Immunization Information Hotline (NIIH), operated by the American Social Health Association, began providing information, referrals and publications, to English and Spanish-speaking callers in the United States and Puerto Rico in March 1997. NIIH is staffed by Health Communication Specialists trained in immunization information, communication skills and data collection.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To examine how seniors utilize the NIIH.

METHOD(S):
Calls are randomly selected to be surveyed for content and demographic information. One out of five calls is surveyed for the English service.

RESULT(S):
By the year of 2010 there will be almost 40 million people over the age of 65 in the US. From January 2000 through September 2001, 167,500 calls were answered on the English line. Of these calls, 11% (19,105) were from people over age 60. From the surveyed calls, people over the age of 60 were concerned about specific vaccinations, immunization schedules, conflicting information, adverse events and the safety of vaccines. Female callers were the majority (76%) of the over 60 callers. Most senior callers received some college or were college graduates (57%). Most seniors responded that they receive their immunization information from a health care provider or health clinic (69%).

CONCLUSIONS(S):
In the year of 2000, people ages 60 or older in the US accounted for over 16% of the population. NIIH provides information tailored to these callers’ needs and offers resources such as publications and referrals to immunization related agencies (local/state/national). NIIH is an instrumental tool in bridging the gap between those who may or may not have the resources to acquire information about immunizations or vaccine preventable diseases.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Describe the types of services NIIH providers to seniors
2) Understand the importance of providing tailored information to this population
3) Discuss the advantages of utilizing NIIH as a resource to Seniors