NCT02868970

Pharmacists as Immunizers to Improve Coverage and Provider/Recipient Satisfaction

Pharmacists as Immunizers to Improve Coverage and Provider/Recipient Satisfaction: A Prospective, Controlled Community Embedded Study With Vaccines With Low Coverage Rates (The Improve ACCESS Study)

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 2,404 (actual)
• Sponsor: Canadian Immunization Research Network · Network
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This project proposes to implement and compare new community pharmacy-based strategies for improving vaccine coverage.

Detailed description

Although there are many safe and effective vaccines for adults, the Public Health Agency of Canada has noted that public perception of vaccination is that it is primarily for infants and children. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends adults and adolescents receive the influenza vaccine, tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap), and meningococcal vaccines (MenACWY, 4CMenB). As well, NACI recommends that people 60 years or older receive the herpes zoster vaccine and that Canadians who travel to high-risk areas should consider getting vaccinated to protect themselves against travel-related illnesses, such as Hepatitis A and Typhoid Fever. While NACI makes recommendations, provinces and territories (P/Ts) determine if they will fund and implement vaccine programs. Unlike the childhood immunization programs which tend to be funded by P/Ts, many adult vaccines are unfunded, resulting in poor population uptake. In this project,the investigators propose to implement and compare new community pharmacy-based strategies for improving vaccine coverage. Patients are typically educated about preventative health care during face-to-face visits with physicians in office settings. The ability to educate and deliver preventative health care is limited by the available provider time during office visits - providers often focus on acute needs and current disease management. New delivery models and a means of extending preventative health care delivery outside of traditional face-to-face office visits are needed. Pharmacists are in a unique position of being among the most accessible of health professionals. Given their extended operating hours, accessibility, and established trust with patients, pharmacists are well-positioned to improve vaccination rates and health system efficacy through injection administration. Vaccine coverage rates will be measured using the following: 1. pharmacy database analysis, 2. public health vaccine reports by physicians, 3. number of vaccine doses delivered to pharmacies in all four regions, and 4. public survey within the study communities to determine immunization status. Intervention communities include Saint John, New Brunswick and New Glasgow/Pictou/Antigonish, Nova Scotia area, which include the smaller towns of Stellarton and Westville, Nova Scotia. Control communities include Moncton, New Brunswick and Kentville/New Minas/Wolfville, Nova Scotia, which include the smaller towns of Canning and Coldbrook, Nova Scotia.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BIOLOGICAL	Meningococcal B	Bexsero is indicated for active immunisation of individuals from 2 months of age and older against invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis group B.
BIOLOGICAL	High-Dose TIV	Fluzone High-Dose is an injectable influenza vaccine made to protect against the flu strains most likely to cause illness for that particular flu season.
BIOLOGICAL	Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis)	Tdap is a combination vaccine that protects against three potentially life-threatening bacterial diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough).
BIOLOGICAL	Meningococcal ACWY	Meningococcal ACWY vaccine is indicated for active immunization of individuals up to 55 years of age against invasive meningococcal diseases caused by Neisseria meningitides serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y.
BIOLOGICAL	Herpes Zoster	Herpes zoster vaccine is indicated for the immunization of individuals 50 years of age or older for the prevention of herpes zoster (shingles).
BIOLOGICAL	Travel Health (Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid Fever)	Hepatitis A vaccine is indicated for immunization against infections caused by hepatitis A virus; Hepatitis B vaccine is indicated for immunization against infection caused by hepatitis B virus; and typhoid fever vaccine is indicated for active immunization against Salmonella typhi, the organism which causes typhoid fever.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-02-15
• Primary completion: 2021-07-05
• Completion: 2021-07-05
• First posted: 2016-08-16
• Last updated: 2024-12-16
• Results posted: 2024-12-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada