Effect of an educational intervention and parental vaccine refusal forms on childhood vaccination rates in a clinic with a large Somali population

Objective:The purpose of this study is to improve vaccination rates at a clinic with a large Somali population,and many vaccine hesitant parents.The study evaluated the effectiveness of some new materials for vaccine hesitant parents.Methods:Educational sessions were given to providers and staff to give“talking points”and to introduce a vaccine refusal form.Chart reviews were done for notes from 50 random well child visits per month of children less than six years old for 7 months before and after the intervention.Results:Before the intervention,44% of Somali children who needed shots did not get them at their well child visit.Afterwards,34% of the Somali children did not get their needed shots.Of non-Somali children,16.8% did not get needed shots before the intervention,and 12.7% did not get needed shots after the intervention(P=0.07).The MMR was the most frequent vaccine omitted.After the intervention,29 parents signed the vaccine refusal form.Conclusion:The“talking points”and vaccine refusal form were associated with improve-ments in immunization rates in this challenging patient population that were not statistically signifi-cant.Refusal form use was not well documented,so its true value requires further study.