Neiko Rust, RN Northern Indiana Immunization Task Force St. Joseph County Health Department - Mishawaka

Neiko Rust, RN Northern Indiana Immunization Task Force St. Joseph County Health Department - Mishawaka

Purpose Statement: Address barriers related to immunizations, reporting of immunizations, provide immunization education, and advocate for immunizations across the lifespan specific to northern Indiana.

The Task Force started out of concern regarding northern Indiana s immunization rates and access to vaccines. The Group consisted of volunteer immunization providers from neighboring counties. The Group began meeting and decided a summit was in order to evaluate the issues amongst other regional providers (i.e. physicians, hospitals, etc.). Summit was held in April 2008 and was attended by a large number of stakeholders in the immunization arena. The attendees Included representation from regional providers, LHDs from surrounding counties, Managed Care Organizations, the State Department of Health, Manufacturing, Hospitals, Private Physician Offices, and Nonprofits Organizations. As a result of the summit, a group of concerned individuals and organizations was formed and was called the Northern Indiana Task Force, which has been meeting every other month since 2008.

In October 2011, the Task Force officially joined the Indiana Immunization Coalition (IIC) and now serves as the Northern Indiana Immunization Task Force. The focus of the Task Force has not change since merging with IIC. The group continues to address immunization- related issues pertinent to northern Indiana. Now, the Task Force is able to utilize the resources and network of IIC to expand their message and reach.

School Nurses and Health Aides from 2 counties Local Health Departments from 6 counties Local Hospitals Health Care Providers Vaccine Companies Community Organizers Health Educators Local Pharmacies Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) Day Cares Insurance Plans ISDH

Educate the community, with an emphasis on health professionals, about the safety and efficacy of vaccines * Task force members will offer educational opportunities within their organizations to increase knowledge about vaccines and their effectiveness. Promote policy advocacy *Support advocacy issues in the region by communicating with local, state, and federal representatives. Data management * Collaborate with Indiana State Department of Health to offer trainings to increase the utilization of the Children and Hoosiers Immunization Registry Program (CHIRP).

The Task Force held a work shop to identify the most critical needs in our community We focused on what the Task Force does well Developed a list of Potential Barriers Assessed the Statistics and Data resources Available Identified the top 3 health/vaccine priorities for the community Selected the highest priority initiative- TdaP The Task Force felt this project would be easy to implement and assess the impact of the initiative on our communities.

Mothers routinely are administered the Tdap vaccine at the hospital or the OB/GYNs office. It is a fact that the baby is not fully protected until it has the primary series of DTaP vaccines which isn t completed until 6 months of age. Historically, Fathers are less likely to have primary care physicians, view themselves as healthy and tend to have the mother handle the follow up vaccinations. They see themselves as the provider and protector for the family but don t understand the importance of vaccination.

The original initiative was found from the State of Michigan via the web. We contacted them to see if we could utilize parts of their poster. Once we received the okay we had several meetings on ideas to personalized our initiative. We decided to utilize specific pictures with captions.

Commitment from coalition, task force, state, and local providers Collaboration with IIC provided for poster design, edits, and publication Following approval, posters were printed and mailed to participating counties for disbursement

AUNT, UNCLE AND COUSINS CLOSE FRIENDS AND SIBLINGS AUNT, UNCLE AND COUSINS CLOSE FRIENDS AND SIBLINGS MOM NEWBORN DAD MOM NEWBORN DAD GRANDMA NEIGHBORS BABYSITTER GRANDPA GRANDMA NEIGHBORS BABYSITTER GRANDPA DAD Are You Protecting Your Baby? VACCINATE AGAINST PERTUSSIS (WHOOPING COUGH) DAD Protect Your Baby. Get Vaccinated. VACCINATE YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AGAINST PERTUSSIS (WHOOPING COUGH) Protect Your Family Vaccinate yourself and family members with a Tdap vaccine to protect against pertussis before the arrival of your child. Don t forget that this includes your teens, grandparents, close family friends and caregivers. For Tdap vaccine information talk to your doctor, local health department, or pharmacist. Check with your health plan regarding coverage. What Is Pertussis? Pertussis is a serious disease. Symptoms can include: a runny nose, mild fever and a cough. The cough then turns into severe coughing fi ts and can last six or more weeks. Did you know that pertussis is especially dangerous in newborns because they are too young to receive the pertussis vaccine? The disease causes infants to cough so much, that some have trouble breathing, leading to hospitalization and potentially death. Not Just Kids Are At Risk Pertussis easily spreads from person to person, family member to family member. And often, from parent to child. Family members can unknowingly spread pertussis to the most vulnerable, your own babies. Anyone that has not been vaccinated against pertussis (Tdap vaccine) is at a higher risk of getting pertussis and passing it on to an infant or child. Protect Your Family Vaccinate yourself and family members with a Tdap vaccine to protect against pertussis before the arrival of your child. Don t forget that this includes your teens, grandparents, close family friends and caregivers. For Tdap vaccine information talk to your doctor, local health department, or pharmacist. Check with your health plan regarding coverage. What Is Pertussis? Pertussis is a serious disease. Symptoms can include: a runny nose, mild fever and a cough. The cough then turns into severe coughing fi ts and can last six or more weeks. Did you know that pertussis is especially dangerous in newborns because they are too young to receive the pertussis vaccine? The disease causes infants to cough so much, that some have trouble breathing, leading to hospitalization and potentially death. Not Just Kids Are At Risk Pertussis easily spreads from person to person, family member to family member. And often, from parent to child. Family members can unknowingly spread pertussis to the most vulnerable, your own babies. Anyone that has not been vaccinated against pertussis (Tdap vaccine) is at a higher risk of getting pertussis and passing it on to an infant or child. ASK for a Tdap vaccine today VISIT vaccinateindiana.org These materials were created by the Indiana Immunization Coalition, Inc. and were funded by the Indiana State Department of Health through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award No: 5H23IP522522-11). ASK for a Tdap vaccine today VISIT vaccinateindiana.org These materials were created by the Indiana Immunization Coalition, Inc. and were funded by the Indiana State Department of Health through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award No: 5H23IP522522-11).

DAD Protect Your Baby. Get Vaccinated. VACCINATE YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AGAINST PERTUSSIS (WHOOPING COUGH) DAD Are You Protecting Your Baby? VACCINATE AGAINST PERTUSSIS (WHOOPING COUGH) Protect Your Family Vaccinate yourself and family members with a Tdap vaccine to protect against pertussis before the arrival of your child. What Is Pertussis? Pertussis is a serious disease. Symptoms can include: a runny nose, mild fever and a cough. The cough then turns into severe coughing fits and can last six or more weeks. Not Just Kids Are At Risk Pertussis easily spreads from person to person, family member to family member. And often, from parent to child. Protect Your Family Vaccinate yourself and family members with a Tdap vaccine to protect against pertussis before the arrival of your child. What Is Pertussis? Pertussis is a serious disease. Symptoms can include: a runny nose, mild fever and a cough. The cough then turns into severe coughing fits and can last six or more weeks. Not Just Kids Are At Risk Pertussis easily spreads from person to person, family member to family member. And often, from parent to child. ASK for a Tdap vaccine today VISIT vaccinateindiana.org ASK for a Tdap vaccine today VISIT vaccinateindiana.org These materials were created by the Indiana Immunization Coalition, Inc. and were funded by the Indiana State Department of Health through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award No: 5H23IP522522-11). These materials were created by the Indiana Immunization Coalition, Inc. and were funded by the Indiana State Department of Health through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Award No: 5H23IP522522-11).

Ideas of placement in community Immunization Clinics/ Vital records Daycares OB/GYNs/Providers FQHCs Hospitals/Residency Clinics Libraries WIC Pharmacies

Posters are equipped with QR codes Links the consumer to The Dad Project page on IIC s website Allows them to access additional information about the diseases the Tdap vaccine prevents Given that the project page is within the IIC website, measures can be collected as to the amount of traffic the website has received Provides an evaluation piece to observe if posters draw attention of consumers who own smartphones.

The 5 counties participating in this initiative will be monitored via CHIRP on how many Tdap vaccines are administered during a 6 month time frame. Compare that data with the previous 6 months before the initiative started to see if we had an increase. Understand that we will not get an exact amount because not every provider utilizes CHIRP. Will also track by how many posters/postcards that we placed in the community.

We intend with this initiative to increase awareness of fathers the importance of protecting their babies against whooping cough by getting the TdaP vaccine. In addition, we will be able to demonstrate the increased vaccination of fathers with TdaP through the state registry. Ultimately, we hope to see a decrease of the incidence of Pertussis in Northern Indiana as a result of this initiative.

If you have further questions regarding the Northern Indiana Immunization Task Force please contact Neiko Rust, RN at the St. Joseph County Health Department- Mishawaka location 574-256- 6226 or NRUST@co.st- joseph.in.us.