KEYWORD1:
School Immunization Requirements
Effective Educational Strategies

BACKGROUND:
With the change of immunization laws to attend school, our program faced the challenge of influencing parents to comply with new laws. The Hawaii Immunization Program conducted a broad-based educational campaign focusing on several audiences: parents of students, school staff, and physicians and other immunization providers.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To influence behavior through a broad-based public education campaign so that parents comply with immunization laws in a timely fashion
2. To determine through a survey completed by school staff which activities were most effective in changing behavior of parents
3. To utilize survey information in the planning and prioritization of activities for future campaigns to more efficiently utilize available resources

METHOD:
This campaign utilized multiple strategies to influence parent action. Campaign strategies included: posters at schools, buses, and physician offices; an incentive program for students; articles placed in community newsletters; press releases; notices distributed through schools; TV and radio broadcasts in English and other languages.

RESULT:
The survey showed that notices to parents were by far the most effective strategy (42%) The next most successful strategies were the incentive program, newspaper articles, and television each at 19%.

CONCLUSION:
Some strategies to encourage up-to-date immunization records prior to the first day of 7th grade were more successful than others in changing parent behavior. Utilization of survey results pinpointed the most effective strategies.
The strategies measured through the survey instrument were a part of additional approaches that targeted other audiences -- school health staff, physicians, and other immunization providers. These additional strategies assisted in increasing the effectiveness of the campaign.
LEARNINGOBJECTIVES:
Participants will be able to:
1. Name at least two campaign activities that were successful in informing parents about the new school immunization requirements
2. Explain the importance of collecting data on the effectiveness of campaign strategies
3. Discuss how multiple strategies targeting several audiences can be utilized to best effect change in behavior