June 22, 2023
The International Association for Indigenous Aging (IA²) is honored to have been awarded a 12-month Partnering for Vaccine Equity (P4VE) grant from the CDC Foundation, which works in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The program supports community-based organizations working to increase COVID-19 and flu vaccine education, access, and acceptance among groups that experience disparities in immunization—including racial and ethnic communities, refugees and immigrants, persons with disabilities, rural populations, and others.
Native American adult populations are falling behind in receiving their first and complete series of COVID-19 vaccinations, according to a National Immunization survey. Given that many tribal communities are rural, these regions face economic and geographic challenges in providing care, which impacts the health of the people who live there.
With this funding, IA² joins the CDC’s P4VE partner network of more than 540 health departments, federally qualified and community health centers, and community-based non-profits working to improve equity in adult immunizations.
This national program builds on knowledge developed through prior work. It encourages cross-sector collaborations to create lasting community change by implementing evidence-based strategies to improve communities’ health and increase vaccine confidence.
IA² will continue to assist those working with Native elders in rural/urban clusters by increasing available community-informed, culturally tailored vaccine communication and education products. Specifically, this work will:
1. Continue to Empower Influential Messengers by expanding upon their current collection of vaccination champion digital stories;
2. Expand upon the current collections of community-informed, culturally tailored Communication Products;
3. Hold or Support an Event(s) for professionals on the topic of vaccinations with the target population of Native elders;
4. Expand upon its current vaccination campaign efforts by Conducting New Campaign(s); and
5. Continue to foster newly formed and/or create new Partnerships in the form of collaboration to support vaccine-related education and/or outreach activities.
For more project information, please contact Nicole Cournoyer, MPH.
Communications contact: Mary Ann O’Meara, MPH.
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IA² is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a majority Native board focused on improving the health and well-being of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and other indigenous peoples as they move through the aging spectrum. www.iasquared.org
This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $20,007,444 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.
