Impact of Education on Influenza Immunization Rates and Care Planning

Influenza vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the flu and associated complications. Similarly, acute care planning in rural areas is more limited than in urban areas as clinics face significant barriers. By increasing education, clinics in rural populations can increase advance care planning and decrease complications of the flu. On a random day, patients will be asked if they have any future care plan and if they have gotten their flu shot. If they answered "no" to either question, a pamphlet will be given educating the patient on the importance of the flu shot or future care planning. The subject will then be asked if they have changed their mind regarding their previous answer. Number of patients sampled was 21 (8 M, 13 F) with an age range of 30-92. Intervention resulted in 23.81% increase in patients who had a future care plan and a 19.05% increase in patients who got the flu shot. The short length of time as well as the small sample size make it difficult to measure exactly how big of an impact the intervention would make over a larger period or with a larger sample size. In addition, this study has a wide age range which could skew the data, as younger patients might not be as willing as older patients to think about future care planning. However, though flawed, the study shows the potential a small intervention could have on patient' health and well-being.