 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Edgar G Villanueva, BSPH, MHA Cand, CDC National Immunization Information Hotline, American Social Health Association, PO Box 13827, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, 919.361.4851, edgvil@ashastd.org
Introduction: The CDC National Immunization Information Hotline (NIIH), operated by the ASHA, provides free information, referrals and publications throughout the US. NIIH is staffed by Health Communication Specialists trained in technical immunization information, communication skills and data collection.
Methods: Calls are randomly selected to be surveyed for content and demographic information. One out of six calls is surveyed for the English service and one out of two calls is surveyed for the Spanish line.
Results: In 2001, staff answered 103,200 calls on the English line and 12,600 calls on the Spanish service. Of the surveyed calls from the English service, 10% were from African Americans. Thirty-six percent of African American callers discussed child immunization issues, with 90% of these callers being female. Most of the African American callers with child immunization concerns were between the ages of 25-34 (41%) and have a high school education (37%). The majority (80%) reported getting their immunization information from a healthcare professional or health department. However, 6% reported getting their immunization information from the media, 6% from books, 3% from family members, 3% from hotlines and 3% from the Internet
Conclusions: According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report, African Americans currently make up an estimated 12.3% of the US population. NIIH provides information tailored to callers’ needs and offers resources such as publications, referrals to immunization related agencies and valuable Web site addresses to special populations. NIIH is an instrumental tool in bridging the gap between those who may or may not have the resources to acquire information about immunizations or VPDs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Immunizations, African American
Related Web page: www.vaccines.ashastd.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The CDC National Immunization Information Hotline (NIIH), operated by the ASHA.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.