Solving the Registry Puzzle with School and Childcare Providers

Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
By the end of the presentation participants will be able to:
1. List benefits school and childcare providers bring to a registry,
2. Identify resources within public health agencies, immunization registries, and school/childcare communities.
3. Develop strategies to recruit school and childcare providers.

Background:
It is important to focus on recruiting school and childcare providers to a registry because these organizations are valuable allies in reinforcing the need for vaccination, whether or not they provide vaccines. By California law they are required to review immunization records to ensure statutory compliance for school/childcare admission, making them potential advocates for complete immunization coverage. The San Diego Immunization Branch formed the School/Childcare Activities Group (SAW) to involve all staff with school/childcare ties. This group worked to develop approaches to increasing the number of school/childcare providers using the San Diego Immunization Registry (SDIR), decreasing communication problems between medical and school/childcare providers over school/childcare immunization law requirements, and implementing a study of kindergarteners to discover obstacles in getting children up-to-date on their immunizations for school.

Setting:
School districts, private schools, childcare providers, community outreach/events, and immunization settings.

Population:
School administrators, school nurses, childcare directors and providers, medical providers and registry personnel, and public health professionals.

Project Description:
Workgroup participants are asked to identify school and childcare resources within their organizations, the public health department and the community. A networking model is constructed to increase the numbers of registry school/childcare providers. A workgroup then develops a strategic plan targeting community connections.

Results/Lessons Learned:
With intra-departmental collaboration, SDIR doubled the number of school districts, private schools and childcare providers using the registry. Developing and using a collaborative networking plan facilitates outreach and helps in recruiting school and childcare providers. Adding these providers enhances registry systems, reinforces immunization, and increases resources for immunization studies.