77thth National Conference on Quality Health Care for National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations Culturally Diverse Populations

Maryland Statewide Community Outreach ProgramMaryland Statewide Community Outreach Program

Presented byPresented byArlee Wallace Gist, Deputy DirectorArlee Wallace Gist, Deputy Director

Office of Minority Health and Health DisparitiesOffice of Minority Health and Health DisparitiesMaryland Department of Health and Mental HygieneMaryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

October 19, 2010October 19, 2010

Why Outreach needed…. Historically low vaccination rates Follow-up dosage needed Confusion of targeted populations Availability of vaccine Vaccine shortage Myths about vaccine safety Younger/healthier populations at greater risk Chronic disease high risk

Consulted With & Funded Minority Consultant Firm

Developed a H1N1 (Swine) Flu Toolkit Conducted 6 regional training sessions Provided technical assistance on H1N1materials Awarded Funds to: 11Minority Outreach and Technical Assistance (MOTA) Grantees from Statewide Network 3 Minority Serving Organizations (MOTA- Sub Grantees) 12 Local Health Departments Selected and Funded Three Focus Group Experts Conducted 26 ethnic/racial focus group sessions H1N1Summary Reports

Hired 38 Community Outreach Workers Conducted 2,867 one-on-one and group

presentations Assisted with 10,201 vaccination at H1N1Clinics Reached 186,680 ethnic/racial persons Distributed 329,419 H1N1 pamphlets,

brochures, poster throughout 26 jurisdictions Assisted with translations and interpretation Provided information in Farsi, Urdu, Arabic,

Chinese, French, Spanish, Burmese

Short time to implement program - Grantees had limited time to submit applications - Training and orientation insufficient to adequately prepare Outreach Workers - Delay in receiving vaccines Public uncertainty about safety of vaccine

Knowledge of grants managements History representing Minority communities Trusted by Minority communities Outreach Workers were residents from the

targeted communities Established relationships with community

groups Working relationship with local health

departments Existing infrastructure

Comparions of Racial % of Population withRacial % of H1N1 Vaccine Recipients,

as of Jan. 12, 2010 (505,638 doses reported)

0.4%5.4%

30.0%

64.1%

0.7%

7.7%

15.1%

71.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Am Ind Asian/PI Black White

% o

f p

op

or

of

va

cc

ine

re

cip

ien

ts % of Population

% of Vaccination

Some Health providers did not recommend H1N1vaccine to patientsImmunization or vaccine are not viewed as an important health issueMedia over played H1N1 as pandemic Participants believe H1N1 is not as prevalent in summer than fall and winter Inadequate information on clinical trails participants The incentive not sufficient to attract participants

Received 374 applications of which 2 were ineligible because they were not Maryland residents

137 ethnic and racial persons participated Conducted 26 Focus groups between June 30,

2010 and July 30, 2010 Focus Group Breakdown: Native American - 3 Hispanic - 4

Caucasian - 8 Asian American - 3 African American - 8

Maryland Regions were: Central - 16, Eastern - 6, Southern -1 and Western - 3

H1N1 Focus Group Process….H1N1 Focus Group Process….

Maryland DHMH H1N1 (Swine) Flu - www.flu.maryland.gov

The Maryland H1N1 (Swine) Flu Information Line Dial -211

Regular DHMH updates posted daily on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/MarylandFluResponse and on Twitter at @Marylandflu

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Office ofMinority Health and Health Disparities www.dhmh.maryland.gov/hd

Health and Human Services - www.flu.gov

Center for Disease Control - www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Arlee Wallace Gist, Deputy DirectorOffice of Minority Health and Health Disparities

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

201 W. Preston Street, Room 500Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Office 410-767-7117Fax 410-333-5100

Email agist@dhmh.state.md.usWebsite www.dhmh.maryland.gov/hd