Home Vaccination Intervention

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

This vaccination intervention provides nurse-administered vaccination at home for children who are behind on their immunization schedule. The program contacted children who were 90 days late for their six-month vaccinations or children who were 120 days late for their 12-month vaccinations. Parents were initially contacted by letter, followed by a telephone call from a nurse to verify the child's immunization status and to schedule an appointment, and to administer a pre-immunization health check. A nurse came to the home and administered vaccination at a time convenient to the parents. Siblings who were due for immunization also received the appropriate vaccinations.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this intervention is to promote catch-up immunizations for children who are behind the recommended immunization schedule.

Impact

Home vaccination for children behind in their immunization schedule is an effective and relatively cheap method of completing recommended vaccinations, and can be particularly beneficial for disadvantaged families.

Results / Accomplishments

This intervention was evaluated using a randomized controlled trial comparing children in the intervention group with a control group. Vaccination was achieved in a significantly higher proportion of the intervention group than the control group (57% vs. 27%, p < 0.001). For the six-month-old vaccinations, 56% of the intervention group and 33% of the control group were vaccinated (p = 0.06). For the 12-month-old vaccinations 57% of the intervention group and 23% of the control group were vaccinated (p < 0.001).

Home vaccinations were completed with 26 families (including five siblings). The average cost per child vaccinated as a result of the home program was $92.52.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Royal Children's Hospital Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit
Primary Contact
Lyndal Bond
lyndalbond@ceips.org.au
http://www.lifecoursecentre.org.au/lcc-fellows
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Health / Children's Health
Organization(s)
Royal Children's Hospital Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit
Source
The Medical Journal of Australia
Date of publication
May 1998
Date of implementation
Nov 1996
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
Melbourne, Australia
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9631672
Target Audience
Children

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.