Christine Schmidt, Community Health Services Division, Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment, 260 South Kipling Street, Lakewood, CO, USA,
Lane Wake, Immunization Program, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, 4300 Cherry Creek Dr S, Denver, CO, USA, and
Sara Lemley, Health Promotion & Lifestyle Management, Jefferson County Department of Health & Environment, 260 S. Kipling Street, Lakewood, CO, USA.
KEYWORDS:
Linking WIC and Immunization
BACKGROUND:
The hypothesis that WIC clients in a neighborhood assessed with high maternal child health risk factors might be underimmunized led to an assessment and intervention project. A small CDC grant made implementation feasible.
OBJECTIVE(S):
To investigate factors that influenced parental success in bringing immunization records to WIC visits and having children up-to-date for immunizations.
METHOD(S):
Parents of WIC children were surveyed regarding family and health services characteristics and children’s immunizations. Reminders to bring immunization records to WIC appointments were given to parents in person and by phone prior to their appointment. Survey and immunization data were merged with state WIC program data.
RESULT(S):
With reminders, 45% of parents brought immunization records, and of those, 35% were up-to-date. In multivariable logistic regression models, parental belief that a child was up-to-date or not knowing status, receiving a reminder and having a LBW child were significantly associated with bringing records. Having private or no health insurance and using private providers were significantly associated with failure to bring records. The child’s age and receiving a reminder were significantly associated with being current for immunizations.
CONCLUSIONS(S):
Family, demographic and health services characteristics can predict parental success in bringing records, and the use of a reminder system improves results. A parental bias against bringing records for a child not up-to-date may require special interventions. Immunization registries could aid successful WIC/immunization linkages by making immunization histories readily available.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Identify two demographic factors that may influence parental success in bringing immunization records to WIC visits
2) Identify two health system factors associated with parental success in bringing immunizations records to appointments
3) Discuss two factors that influence whether a child is up-to-date for age with immunizations
4) Discuss two WIC/Immunization linking strategies for improving immunization rates among children
See more of The WIC-Immunization Linkage: Evaluating Risk of Underimmunization
See more of The 36th National Immunization Conference
