Pneumococcal Disease Prevention

Improving the Quality of Elderly Care in Indiana: Reducing the Incidence of Vaccine-Preventable Pneumonia and Related Morbidity and Mortality

In order to reduce the risk of outbreaks, serious illness, hospitalization, and death, as well as reduce direct medical costs of the elderly, the proposed goals of this program are:
1) Improve vaccination rates for pneumococcal disease to 90% in people age 80 and older in the state of Indiana who reside in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), low income senior housing, licensed assisted living facilities(ALFs) and other types of senior housing
2) Improve vaccination rates of healthcare staff in the aforementioned housing/care Facilities
3) Extrapolate learnings from the state level activity and disseminate to a wider national audience via publication of toolkit designed to improve the quality of pneumococcal vaccination practices among the elderly.