Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20411
Title: Closing the gap in Australian Aboriginal infant immunisation rates - the development and review of a pre-call strategy
Contributor(s): Cashman, Patrick M (author); Allan, Natalie A (author); Clark, Katrina K (author); Butler, Michelle T (author); Massey, Peter D  (author); Durrheim, David N (author)
Publication Date: 2016
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3086-xOpen Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20411
Abstract: Background: Improving timely immunisation is key to closing the inequitable gap in immunisation rates between Aboriginal children and non-Indigenous children. Aboriginal Immunisation Officers were employed in Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD), New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to telephone the families of all Aboriginal infants prior to the due date for their first scheduled vaccination. Methods: Aboriginal Immunisation Officers contacted the families of Aboriginal children born in the Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) by telephone before their due immunisation date (pre-call) to provide the rationale for timely immunisation, and to facilitate contact with culturally safe local immunisation services if this was required. The impact of this strategy on immunisation coverage rates is reviewed. Results: For the period March 2010 to September 2014 there was a significant increase in immunisation coverage rate for Aboriginal children at 12 months of age in HNELHD (p < 0.0001). The coverage in the rest of NSW Aboriginal children also increased but not significantly (p = 0.218). Over the full study period there was a significant decrease in the immunisation coverage gap between Aboriginal children and non-Indigenous children in HNELHD (p < 0.0001) and the rest of NSW (p = 0.004). The immunisation coverage gap between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous infants decreased at a significantly faster rate in HNELHD than the rest of NSW (p = 0.0001). By the end of the study period in 2014, immunisation coverage in HNELHD Aboriginal infants had surpassed that of non-Indigenous infants by 0.8%. Conclusions: The employment of Aboriginal immunisation officers may be associated with closing of the gap between Aboriginal and non-Indigenous infants' immunisation coverage in HNELHD and NSW. The pre-call telephone strategy provided accelerated benefit in closing this gap in HNELHD.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: BMC Public Health, v.16, p. 1-7
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1471-2458
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 111799 Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified
111701 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
111704 Community Child Health
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 420601 Community child health
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 920499 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified)
920302 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health - Health Status and Outcomes
920501 Child Health
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 210302 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health status and outcomes
200501 Adolescent health
200506 Neonatal and child health
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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