As one of 20 states where "philosophical" childhood vaccination exemptions are legal, Oregon has the highest exemption rate in the country. Moreover, the portion of Oregon parents opting out of vaccination has steadily increased over the past 15 years, from 2.7% to 7.5%. The immunization rates in Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson Counties reflect these exemptions: Deschutes County's non-medical exemption rate is the fourth highest in the state for both kindergarten alone and K-12 grades. The Healthy People 2020 Goal for childhood immunizations is 80%, meaning that the current immunization falls below that threshold. This puts our community perilously close to losing the benefits of community immunity and in danger of outbreaks of serious diseases like measles (which requires 92%-93% of the population to be immunized for community immunity). Because vaccine-hesitant parents tend to "cluster" in certain neighborhoods and schools, some children are at even greater risk: Non-vaccination rates at some schools in Portland and Deschutes County, for instance, exceed 50%.
After the weekend training, one of the providers approached Boost's Executive Director, Nadine Gartner, and thanked her. She told Nadine that the training made her completely re-think the way that she counseled vaccine-hesitant parents in her practice. She intended to incorporate our methods and materials into her practice, in addition to applying what she learned to host community workshops for parents. Since returning home, she has emailed Nadine to inform her how effective our methodologies have been in her practice.
In the first year of the project, Boost Oregon successfully trained five medical providers from Central Oregon to lead community workshops for parents. Boost Oregon recruited the providers by distributing flyers and asking residents for referrals.
During the second year of our project, Boost Oregon hosted four community workshops for vaccine-hesitant parents; three seminars for medical providers on effective communication with vaccine-hesitant patients; distributed over 1,000 copies of printed materials and disseminated a video series that prepares families for their infants' well-visits.
After the workshops, 100% of parents reported that they intend to vaccinate fully.
Boost Oregon partnered with St. Charles Health System, PacificSource Community Solutions, and the Rotary Club to expand our reach. After the seminars, providers reported that they felt more confident and better equipped to discuss children's immunizations with vaccine-hesitant parents.
Boost's signature parent workshops deliver evidence-based information on vaccinations to a difficult-to-reach—and, in Oregon, numerically significant—population: independent-minded parents who are skeptical of government and pharmaceutical-industry information sources.
Boost Oregon has trained six medical providers from Central Oregon to establish and lead local community workshops. These providers will host regular community workshops for parents in Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, and Northern Klamath counties, and they will help distribute our written educational materials to new and expecting parents.
During the grant period, we distributed 1,860 parents' guides and 100 providers' guides to clinical practices, local health departments, childcare settings, schools, and nonprofit organizations in Central Oregon. We also held three virtual healthcare provider trainings, led by a pediatrician and Boost Oregon educator, to teach effective communication skills with vaccine-hesitant patients. We educated 170 providers, including physicians, nurses, medical assistants, WIC counselors, prenatal advisors, and community health workers.
92% of attendees reported that they plan to vaccinate their children fully after attending a workshop.