KEYWORDS:
childhood immunizations, Adopt-A-Block for Shots, community participation

BACKGROUND:
The U.S. Adopt-A-Highway program (AAH) allows individuals, volunteer groups, nonprofit and professional organizations, and commercial companies to take visible responsibility for the cleanliness of a two-mile stretch of highway. AAH has dramatically reduced the amount of litter on Texas highways and has cut government costs. In the 15 years since it was founded in Texas, the program has spread to 48 other states and three foreign countries. AAH programs are non-governmental, decentralized, cost-effective, and community-based.

OBJECTIVE(S):
We researched the operation of AAH and sketched a similar model, dubbed the Adopt-A-Block for Shots program (AABS), that could be used to increase child immunization rates in communities.

METHOD(S):
The model envisions volunteer groups, nonprofit and professional organizations, and commercial companies “adopting” a defined geographic area within a community to increase the immunization rate. The program would be managed by a small community-based nonprofit organization, called the Community Immunization Coalition (CIC). Adopting organizations (AOs) would participate in the AABS program for a minimum of five years and would make annual financial contributions to a CIC fund. AOs would have the freedom to choose any method(s) they wished to promote immunization in their areas, provided they worked in concert with relevant community and public health agencies and followed rules established by the CIC. AOs would set targets for immunization rates in their areas. Their performance would be measured annually through small-area immunization surveys conducted by the CIC. Successful AOs would be recognized and their methods publicized.

RESULT(S):

CONCLUSIONS(S):
The AABS model could be a valuable adjunct to traditional government-based immunization efforts. Its structure and function, to be described in detail during our presentation, would foster innovation, allow immunization outreach efforts to be tailored to local conditions, and increase participation of the local community in immunization activities.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: