The National Influenza Vaccination Disparities Partnership: Lessons Learned for Effective Community Engagement

Background:  Surveillance data clearly indicate that disparities in flu vaccination coverage continue to exist.  One key strategy to increase vaccination uptake for minority communities is the development of partnerships that can support the implementation of a seasonal influenza vaccination marketing campaign. The National Influenza Vaccination Disparities Partnership (NIVDP) was created with the CDC to identify and develop action-oriented long-term partnerships to support promotional activities including the dissemination of materials, organizing educational events and flu vaccination clinics, and identifying local health champions for community mobilization.  

Setting:  The partners were engaged from 40 target markets that included rural and urban settings and across sectors in the private and public health fields within the African American, Latino, and American Indian communities.

Population: The partners for NIVDP were selected based on the following criteria within the African American, Hispanic and American Indian communities:

• Ability to help drive influenza vaccination uptake
• Respected and trusted within the community
• Health jurisdiction in low level vaccination uptake
• Capacity to implement and sustain outreach activities

Project Description:  The Partnership for the marketing campaign is made up of established entities including the CDC, HHS, faith- and community-based organizations, health departments, community clinics, businesses, media and other sectors serving populations vulnerable to health disparities.  There is a strong need to engage trusted influencers through local grassroots outreach efforts to reinforce messaging about the safety of the vaccine.  

Results/Lessons Learned: Lessons learned from the development and execution of NIVDP alliances and activities will be shared based on a readiness assessment and a results-oriented evaluation that identified barriers to accessing influenza vaccination and cultural factors that inhibit flu vaccination uptake behaviors. In the first three months of the campaign 62 vaccination clinics were organized; 284 partners were recruited; over 5,000 vaccinations were provided; and through earned media 16, 2441,955 impressions were generated.