The Trumbull County Combined Health District focused on routine childhood immunizations in the Amish and rural communities of northern Trumbull County. These areas are where we historically see low vaccine uptake. We leveraged several partners in this project including local government buildings to host vaccine clinics, Amish community drivers, and an agency to assist in designing new outreach materials.
TCCHD staff recruited participants at monthly outreach clinics at two locations in our target area, West Farmington Fire Department and Mesopotamia Road Department. Staff collected feedback on communication materials through paper surveys by conducting focus groups at the two locations. Staff determined that there was a need to update communication materials, based on feedback from the paper surveys.
TCCHD staff learned that extended times for clinic days were highly requested from participant surveys. Staff identified through participant surveys that transportation was available, however, shortened times for clinic days were a potential barrier due to transportation schedules. Staff identified through participant surveys that combination vaccines were becoming more accepted by the target population due to increased communication materials being shared consistently within the community.
TCCHD will continue to work with our partnering agency, D5Group, to improve our immunization communication materials and dissemination of our materials to our target community.
Author: Erin Heckman, Director of Nursing, Trumbull County Combined Health District
