Increasing uptake of influenza vaccine among community-dwelling elderly in Hong Kong

Abstract

Influenza is a serious public health problem that circulates worldwide affecting every age group and spreads easily from person to person. It can cause severe illnesses and deaths especially in high risk groups including the aged 65 or above. Influenza vaccination programme is an important issue in Hong Kong health care system. More preventive measures should be targeted on the elderly in practice. Mailing invitation, phone invitation, training-the-trainer program and home visit by nurse in primary care settings are found to be effective in increasing the influenza vaccination rate as evidenced by 10 systematic reviews. Several approaches of recommendations for increasing the utilization of influenza vaccination among elders in community have been proposed in this paper. Communication plan, pilot testing and evaluation plan have been discussed to implement and improve the proposed guidelines.