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Challenge: To help boost vaccination rates among African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos ages 65 years and older, the National Immunization Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked AED to provide technical assistance and communications and programmatic support to local organizations and health departments at five pilot sites.

Solution: We first worked with community advisory boards to develop an infrastructure through which to plan and carry out communication and outreach activities at each site. We then provided training and assistance to help these boards make the most of the local resources. With AED support, the five sites carried out public events that were uniquely tailored to each locale.

• Rochester used prominent African American physicians and community leaders as spokespersons at community events and in local radio and television appearances.
• The Milwaukee campaign featured appearances by gospel singer and celebrity spokesperson Cissy Houston, who performed and spoke about adult immunizations during services at large African American congregations.
• Mississippi planned a series of “Gospel Extravaganzas” with flu clinics across the Delta counties that were organized in conjunction with local churches and community organizations.
• Chicago worked with city aldermen to reach out to their senior citizen constituents, and develop their capacity to plan and implement adult immunization clinics.

Results: All of the pilot sites fostered new and sustainable networks of community-based organizations, knowledge exchange between the sites and the CDC, identification of innovative and effective communication and dissemination channels, and a process for working with local health departments.

> Download the READII project fact sheet (100 KB, PDF)

To learn more about these and other CHC programs, contact us.