[Intervention with community health agents in immunization programs in the gypsy population]

Abstract

Objective: To measure how the vaccination coverage of the Gypsy child population in the Cartuja and Almanjayar quarters evolved throughout a Health Education Intervention using Community Health workers belonging to the Gypsy community.

Design: A descriptive study, pre-test/post-test, with no control group.

Setting: Community level. Primary Care.

Patients and other participants: The whole of the Gypsy child population under 14, consisting of 1,073 children, and four Community Health workers.

Interventions: Health Education for mothers and carers, by means of home visits carried out by four Health workers, previously trained and contracted for this purpose for a year by the Andalusian School of Public Health.

Measurements and main results: We measured the Vaccination Coverage in September 1988 (42.2%) in order to establish the situation both at the start of the intervention in March 1990 (46.2%) and at its end in March 1991 (68.2%). We measured Vaccination Coverage of the different vaccine doses through frequency allocations.

Conclusions: The Health Centre increased Vaccination Coverage by 4% in 18 months. The intervention increased it by 22.2% in 12 months. This demonstrates the intervention's effectiveness and underlines the importance of carrying out this kind of intervention when working with at-risk population groups.