KEYWORDS:
Adult Immunization, Community Partnerships, Collaboration

BACKGROUND:
Improving adult immunization coverage is a Healthy People 2010 goal, and awareness of the importance of protecting adults through immunization is increasing both in the health care community and among the public, but limited support has yet been made available to local immunization programs for this effort.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Develop community perception of the importance of ensuring that more seniors and high-risk adults receive appropriate vaccines. Identify and recruit local partners to improve adult immunizations and obtain partnership commitments.

METHOD(S):
Continue to evaluate adult coverage levels. Develop new objectives/interventions to improve adult immunization and expand existing collaborations into new arenas. Obtain written commitments for specific adult-focused activities.

RESULT(S):
Baseline coverage levels were collected for three consecutive years for seniors 65 and above and for one year for high-risk adults. An adult working group formed within the existing Coalition submitted recommendations to the Coalition strategic planning process. An assessment of community needs and resources is being developed, and additional adult and senior-focused partners have been identified and recruited. Of 150 reports submitted for CY 2000, 33.3% of Coalition partners reported that they were conducting interventions focusing on adults/seniors and 37.3% committed to adult activities for 2001. An application was invited by the Corporation for National Service for AmeriCorps*VISTA members to conduct focus groups and in-depth interviews of seniors and high-risk adults, and to establish additional adult-focused community partnerships.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
There is considerable community interest in developing objectives and interventions to improve adult immunization coverage. At this stage, it is critical for immunization programs to establish strong collaborations with agencies and organizations having an interest in the health of this population, and to collect baseline data on vaccine-getting behaviors of seniors and high-risk adults.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Describe a process for developing community support and involvement for adult immunization interventions.