BACKGROUND:
Each year, 46,000 to 48,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable diseases. African Americans and Hispanics have significantly lower influenza and pneumoccal immunization coverage rates compared to non-Hispanic whites. While substantial advances have been made in understanding how to increase childhood immunization rates, little is known about the best intervention strategies for promoting adult immunizations in these populations.

OBJECTIVE:
CDC is the lead federal agency for the Racial & Ethnic Adult Disparities in Immunization Initiative (READII)--a two-year demonstration project to improve vaccination rates for African-Americans and Hispanics age 65 and older.

METHOD:
Five state and local health departments are collaborating with a variety of community stakeholders to develop and implement community-based plans focusing on evidence-based interventions and innovative approaches to increasing adult immunization rates. In 2002, CDC contracted with the Academy for Educational Development to provide technical assistance to the five sites in the areas of partnership development, intervention design, social marketing and communication.

RESULT:
The five sites have tried to build on their childhood immunization successes. Health departments have struggled to find new partners and develop operating principles for their coalitions to effectively reach minority seniors. Interventions targeting providers had to be adapted to the unique aspects of supply and billing systems for adult vaccines. Outreach and communication to seniors necessarily focused on the significant misunderstandings they have about adult immunizations, and as the low perceived need for them.

CONCLUSION:
Issues around promoting adult immunizations are distinctly different from those for childhood programs from the point of view of the consumer, the medical provider and the coalition partner. Successful interventions will approach the adult immunization challenge in ways that are sensitive to these differences.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the session, participants will name six ways that successful adult immunization coalitions should be constituted and organized differently from childhood programs.