Academy for Educational Development

A new campaign AED designed to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated against the flu recently won National Health Information Awards from the Health Information Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for consumer health  programs and materials.







The public education campaign is part of a larger project     AED is working on with the Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, a part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to encourage more people to get vaccinated against the flu.

“Flu is one of the CDC’s top five issues,” said Jim Bender, deputy director of the AED Center for Health Communication. “The flu season can start as early as October and last as late as May—and getting a flu vaccine is the most effective way of protecting yourself and your family.” The vaccine is safe and is effective for six to nine months. Because the virus changes from season to season, it is important to get vaccinated every year. Vaccination is especially important for people at high risk for flu-related complications which can lead to hospitalization or even death.

Through communications such as this poster, the public awareness campaign createdby AED is reaching out to groups deemed mostat-risk for developing serious complicationsfrom the flu virus. Watch the public service announcements: Grandkids English :60 Grandkids English :30 Grandkids English :15 Grandkids Spanish :30 To view TV Spots you can download the free RealPlayer

These people include children from the age of 6 months up to their fifth birthday; individuals with chronic medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, or HIV/AIDS; people who are 50 or older; and pregnant women.









Others who should get vaccinated are those who live with or provide care to people in the high risk groups. Among the primary target groups for the CDC campaign are seniors in racial and minority groups because research shows that even though they are vulnerable to getting seriously ill from the flu, they have very low vaccination rates.“We found through our focus groups that, while convincing them to do it for themselves was somewhat effective, once you started talking about the risk to the grandchild, the message resonated,” said Bender. “When we said, ‘You can’t hold the baby when you are sick,’ that really hit home.”









As a result, the posters, television, and radio public service announcements were geared specifically to those messages. The spots are being distributed to 1,100 television stations and about 2,000 radio stations in both English and Spanish. Even though the CDC wants to reach seniors and young children, people in the middle of those two age groups—especially parents—still need to be vaccinated so that they do not transmit the virus to others.









The shot is more effective for those who are healthier and less vulnerable, said Bender. And it is not too late.









“If you get a flu shot in December or January you are still protected,” he said. “There is no shortage of vaccines this year, and anyone who can roll up their sleeve should get a flu shot.”











For more information, contact Jim Bender.
Read more about our work in U.S. Health.