Free Immunization training for Medical Staff

National Infant Immunization Week

Hello. Here is some information and a link to the CDC's Toolkit for National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), April 22 to 29.

The toolkit details events and activities, online resources, sample social media content and materials for the annual observance of NIIW. The CDC's welcome message and a link to the NIIW web site are found below. We hope you will find these resources helpful as you engage and promote NIIW messages. Thank you.

Samhara Estrada, Acting Chair of the Broward Immunization Action Coalition

DIGITAL TOOLKIT FOR PARTNERS

To assist partners in our collective efforts to spread the word about the positive impact of vaccination, and to call attention to immunization achievements, we have created this digital toolkit for partners which details events and activities, online resources, sample social media content, and materials. We hope you will find these resources helpful as you engage and promote NIIW messages.

National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. Since 1994, local and state health departments, national immunization partners, healthcare professionals, community leaders from across the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have worked together through NIIW.

CDC relies heavily on partners like you to promote our messages about the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our children, communities, and public health. This year, NIIW will be observed from April 22—April 29. We encourage you to get involved in NIIW and thank you helping us spread the word about childhood immunizations.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/index.html

Webinar Training Opportunity

HPV Vaccinations: From Recommendations to Practice

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at Noon EST

The Florida Department of Health, Immunization Section would like to share an upcoming training opportunity, “HPV Vaccinations: From Recommendations to Practice.”  The human papillomaviruses (HPV) cause over 31,000 cases of cancer in the U.S. each year. 

Join National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) President-Elect, Joseph A. Bocchini, Jr., MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics Health Sciences Center at Louisiana State University and Tracy Bieber, RN, BSN, Immunization Strategy Manager at Sanford Health System for an update on current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations regarding the use of HPV vaccines and strategies for improving immunization rates. 

This webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at Noon EST Register Now!

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and outcomes of HPV infection
• Discuss ACIP recommendations for the use of HPV vaccines and the rationale for universal immunization
• Discuss safety of HPV vaccines and early data on vaccine effectiveness

Continuing Nursing Education (CNE)

This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Ohio Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (OBN-001-91). It has been approved for a maximum of 1.0 contact hour.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

The NFID is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. NFID designates this continuing material for a maximum of 1.0 American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award (AMA PRA) Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

Please review the attached documents and distribute to appropriate staff. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dearline Thomas-Brown, MPH, BSN, RN, Executive Community Health Nursing Director at (850) 245-4444, ext. 2384.

  

Robert M. Griffin, Administrator

Immunization Section, Bureau of Epidemiology

Division of Disease Control and Health Protection

(850) 245-4331, Robert.Griffin@flhealth.gov

Webinar -- Vaccine Confidence: Key to Communicating

The Florida Department of Health Immunization Section would like to share with its partners, colleagues and the community an educational webcast and live Q&A session.

The webcast will be hosted by Sanofi Pasteur and is titled Vaccine Confidence: The Key to Communicating with Parents and Patients. Registration is required.

Topics addressed will be vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and resistance. The program goal is to increase confidence and comfort levels of health care professionals to better equip them for conversations with parents and patients. Communication techniques will be demonstrated by expert staff.

Speakers include:

• Gary S. Marshall, MD
  Professor of Pediatrics
  Chief, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  Director, Pediatric Clinical Trials Unit
  University of Louisville School of Medicine     
• Carole H. Moloney, RN, MSN, CPNP
  Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
  Boston Medical Center
  Clinical Instructor, Pediatrics
  Boston University School of Medicine      

 Four sessions are scheduled:

• Tuesday, March 7, 2:00 p.m. EST
• Thursday, March 9, 12:00 p.m. EST
• Tuesday, March 14, 3:00 p.m. EST
• Thursday, March 16, 1:00 p.m. EST

To register, please visit: login.xyvid.com/register/group/vaccine.

Feel free to distribute this information to anyone who provides or has an interest in immunizations. If you have questions or need additional information regarding vaccine recommendations, please contact Dearline Thomas-Brown, MPH, BSN, RN, Executive Community Health Nursing Director for the Immunization Section at 850-245-4342.

Childhood Immunization Champion Award

Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond on childhood vaccinations? You can considering nominating him or her for the Florida Childhood Immunization Champion Award Program.  

Please note the deadline for submitting the form is Friday, February 17, 2017.  

2017 Florida Childhood Immunization Champion Award Program

The Florida Department of Health Immunization Section on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Foundation is proud to announce the sixth Annual Childhood Immunization Champion Award Program. The award honors individuals who are doing an exemplary job or going above and beyond to promote or foster childhood immunizations in their communities. Award recipients for 2017 will be announced during National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), April 22-29, 2017.

Award Criteria

Champions can include coalition members, parents, health care professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses, physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, etc.), and other immunization leaders who meet the award criteria. State immunization program managers, state and federal government employees of health agencies, individuals who have been affiliated with and/or employed by pharmaceutical companies, and those who have already received the award are not eligible to apply.

When nominating and selecting a Champion, immunization programs should base their nominations on meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• Leadership: The candidate is considered an authority on immunization in their community, medical system, or individual practice. Activities may include acting as a spokesperson, trainer, mentor, or educator.
  
• Collaboration: The candidate has worked to build support for and increase immunization rates in infants and young children. Activities may include establishing or strengthening partnerships, coalitions, committees, working groups, or other.
  
• Innovation: The candidate has used creative or innovative strategies to promote immunization or address challenges to immunization in their practice, community, state, or region. Activities may include either new strategies or adapting existing strategies in new ways such as for reaching under-immunized populations.  

• Advocacy: The candidate is active in advancing policies and best practices to support immunization in infants and young children in their community, state, or region. Activities may include providing legislative testimony or promoting, analyzing, or evaluating policies. 

Eligibility information and nominating forms have been attached for your convenience.

Please submit ALL nomination packets to Dearline Thomas-Brown, MPH, BSN, RN, Executive Community Health Nursing Director, Florida Department of Health, Immunization Section at Dearline.Thomas-Brown@flhealth.gov, by February 17, 2017 (extended).

Please distribute this important information to colleagues, members, coalitions, and partners who provide or have an interest in immunizations. Please place this information prominently on your website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dearline Thomas-Brown, MPH, BSN, RN, Executive Community Health Nursing Director, Florida Department of Health, Immunization Section at 850-245-4342, ext. 2384 or Dearline.Thomas-Brown@flhealth.gov.

A CDC toolkit to address HPV

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected a number of tools that immunization advocates, clinicians and parents can use to talk about the vaccine against human papilloma virus. Here are all the particulars...

We have an amazing tool to protect young people from most of the cancers caused by HPV, including cervical cancer. Let’s use the rest of January to raise awareness of all HPV cancers and HPV vaccination. 

CDC and several partner organizations have compiled a multitude of resources for the new
HPV Vaccination Partner Toolkit that can help you share the importance of HPV vaccination, help clinicians make effective recommendations, improve coverage rates, and provide you with places you can go to get more information and materials. Below are ways you can raise awareness this month and in the future.




Share Why HPV Vaccine is Important

1.  Have Survivors Come to Speak      Having a survivor come speak to clinicians in the area can      make a big impact. The American Cancer Society has      developed a speaker database that will allow you to find      HPV cancer survivors in your area.

 

2. Share Survivor Videos      HPV cancer survivors have a unique and powerful story to tell.      Listen to these men and women talk about their experiences      important. These videos can be used to help parents and      clinicians understand  the risks of HPV infection and why HPV      vaccination is so important.

 

3. Set up a viewing of Someone You Love      “Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic” is a feature length      in-depth documentary narrated by Vanessa Williams on the      human papilloma virus (HPV) and the stories of      struggle, tragedy and triumph surrounding this complicated      and often misunderstood infection.

 

4. Discover the Link Between HPV and Cancer      Each year, about 38,793 new cases of cancer are found in      parts of the body where human papillomavirus (HPV) is often       found. HPV causes about 30,700 of these cancers. Get the      statistics around HPV and Cancer from CDC to better      understand the burden of HPV infection.

Help Clinicians Make Effective Recommendations

1. Share the Updated Clinician Factsheet      Our updated clinician tipsheet highlights the use of the      "bundled recommendation" and gives simple and effective      answers to the questions parents have about HPV vaccine.

 

2. Learn How to Give an Effective Recommendation      CDC has created multiple CME courses on the best ways to      give an HPV vaccine recommendation. Each course can be      used to get new insight on how to have the HPV vaccine      conversation with parents of 11-12 year olds and how to      answer their questions.

 

3. Watch Providers Giving Effective Recommendations       Minnesota Department of Health has created a 12-minute       video for health care providers on HPV vaccine         communication. The video begins with humorous vignettes       and then presents four model clinical encounters in which       providers demonstrate low-stress ways of recommending       HPV vaccine and answering questions from patients and       parents.

Help Raise HPV Vaccination Rates

1.  Know the Many Ways You Can Help      Get tips on what different types of groups can do to help      raise rates. This PDF includes suggestions like: sending      letters to parents of 9-12 year olds, hosting lunch and learns,         working with local cancer groups, reaching out to local      health systems, and more.

 

2.  Understand your Rates      Access survey data collected by CDC and translate the data      into action. This data can help you identify where additional      efforts are needed to increase vaccination coverage.

 

3.  Get Involved in Quality Improvement Projects      Quality improvement actions in your practice can lead to      increases in HPV vaccination coverage. Find out more about      the different types of quality improvement projects that are      available, including AFIX visits, reminder/recall, immunization      information systems, and more.

 

4.  Participate in A Maintenance of Certification Project      Be a part of AAP's maintenance of certification program.      AAP's MOC site is designed to assist eligible AAP Member      pediatricians in developing, submitting, and managing a      MOC related activity.

Get More Resources

1. CDC's HPV Partner Toolkit      This toolkit provides resources for state and local      organizations interested in enhancing HPV vaccination      efforts at the clinician, patient, and partnership level.      It includes all of CDC's resources for helping to promote      HPV vaccine and give links to partner information.

 

2. The American Cancer Soceity      The American Cancer Society has several HPV vaccination      rate improvement initiatives. The HPV VACs project      partners with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs),      state health departments, and other state-based entities to      increase HPV vaccination rates through improved clinician      education and systems change. The National HPV      Vaccination Roundtable, coordinated by the American      Cancer Society is a national coalition of over 70 national      organizations working together to prevent HPV cancer and      precancer by increasing and sustaining HPV vaccination      rates in the United States..

 

3. The AAP's HPV Champion Toolkit.      This toolkit from the American Academy of Pediatrics has      some of the best resources available to help you educate      other healthcare professionals, discuss HPV vaccination      with parents, and make necessary changes in your practice      to improve HPV vaccination rates.

 

4. Local Partners      Many organizations have local initiatives to increase HPV      vaccination rates. Use this page to find your state contacts,      as well as information on several partner projects dedicated      to preventing HPV cancers and diseases.

How we talk to parents about HPV vaccine is important

The way health professionals talk about the human papilloma virus vaccine can improve the chances that parents will agree to immunize their children.

That was the experience of the Florida Department of Health in Broward County during its annual back-to-school immunization campaign in August.

DOH-Broward nurses nearly doubled the number of HPV shots they gave during the 2016 campaign at Lauderhill Mall, by simply telling parents that HPV vaccine protects kids against cancer.

“When HPV becomes a part of routine vaccination and is presented as cancer prevention, parents are more apt to agree to the vaccination for their child,” DOH-Broward staff wrote in a summary on the success of the practice.

HPV vaccine is given to boys and girls starting at age 11. During the mall campaign, DOH-Broward vaccinated 1,640 children for HPV, vs. 903 in 2015, the first year it was offered. That’s an 82 percent jump. Of those, 1,256 were initial doses, 228 were second doses and 156 were third doses.

 

HPV vaccine is not required for school admission, and some parents hesitate to say yes because HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. Federal data from 2013 rank Florida among the lowest in HPV vaccinations, with 39.4 percent of females receiving one dose.

But reframing the conversation helped.

“The success of this practice was due to training immunization nurses on how to talk to parents about HPV and willingness of nurses to implement these new methods,” says

Terri Sudden, Director of Public Health Preparedness and Response. She will give a presentation on the approach at a statewide immunization conference.

The same approach helped increase HPV vaccine rates at DOH-Broward clinics, which gave 2,577 doses last year, almost triple the 869 given in 2015.

Offering HPV vaccine at DOH-Broward settings is part of a three-pronged project DOH-Broward began in 2015.

The other parts involve training medical professionals to pro-mote the vaccine routinely, and to distribute educational palm cards in the community (over 5,000 so far). The project continues this year.

Delivering a shot of immunization knowledge

Janice Lachhman (L) and Fatima Aviles (R) of DOH Immunization talk with Cherie Collins of South Florida Pediatric Partners  

The Immunization Action Coalition of Broward delivered another installment of its Immunization Training for Medical Professionals, targeting physician office personnel. It was the second such session of the year.

The half-day seminar drew 16 medical assistants, office managers and clinic workers from various pediatric and family medicine practices throughout Broward County. The coalition, staffed by Florida Department of Health in Broward County with community partners, aims to promote the increased use of vaccines, especially among children and adolescents.

During the training, speakers from DOH and the coalition covered frequently asked topics, such as best practices in Hepatitis B vaccine for children, how to use Florida SHOTS to record vaccinations, influenza, Zika virus and vaccine handling and preparation.

A highlight was a skit by coalition members Ray Ramirez (Pediatric Associates) and Janet Jones (Holy Cross Hospital) on how to engage parents who are reluctant to get their children vaccinated, with a focus on human papilloma virus (HPV) for adolescents.

The coalition also gave thank-you awards to two pediatric offices that have volunteered to let DOH scrutinize their childhood vaccination rates, so they can work to improve. Gallagher Pediatrics in Fort Lauderdale (part of Holy Cross Medical Group) and South Florida Pediatric Partners in Pompano Beach were recruited to participate by coalition Chair Samhara Estrada. She is a regional consultant for the DOH Immunization Section.

The project is called Assess the Best. The premise is that most physician offices believe they vaccinating more children than they actually do, and that if they knew the figures, they would improve their performance. In the first three months of the project, both pediatric offices raised their rates of HPV vaccinations and one raised its rate of standard childhood shots.

For information on Assess the Best, contact samhara.estrada@flhealth.gov.