Digital toolkit released for National Immunization Awareness Month

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Public Health Foundation have released the online 2019 Toolkit for Communicating with Parents and Patients to assist healthcare providers in promoting the importance of vaccination in well-care discussions with patients and parents.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), and each year at this time the CDC emphasizes the importance of receiving the recommended age-appropriate vaccinations on time to promote good health.

The free toolkit for communicating with parents and patients contains key messages, sample social media messages, graphics and videos, and other downloadable resources to use to educate patients and families about the benefits of vaccination. Messages can be tailored for the appropriate audience, from childhood/adolescent vaccination to maternal/adult vaccination, to emphasize the safety and effectiveness at preventing serious diseases at each life stage.

A toolkit version for healthcare professionals also includes continuing medical education programs for professional enrichment.

In support of this program, the CDC will host a NIAM webinar later in August on strategies to address vaccine misinformation. In addition, a new website is now available to access the #HowIRecommend vaccination video series. Access August’s featured video on strategies for recommending the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to parents of preteens at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/howirecommend/adolescent-vacc-videos.html.