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The Language and Immunization for Kids Study (LINKS): Identifying Public Health Strategies to Engage Families Who Prefer a Language Other Than English in Childhood Vaccine Uptake

Statement of Problem

As child health researchers and physicians, we know childhood immunization programs and coalitions are among our nation’s most important and effective child health interventions. These programs ensure children receive protection from potentially life-threatening conditions such as measles, polio and hepatitis B. They help children in every U.S. county, parish, borough, state, and territory, even if children are uninsured or families lack the ability to pay.

Ensuring childhood immunization programs remain strong and can continue to reach all children equitably is a child health priority. This includes attention to language access—most often referring to interpreting (spoken, sign language) and translation (written). Nationally, about 15% of children have at least one parent who speaks English less than “very well,” a standard we consider important for health communication. Focusing on Asian and Latine children, about 40% have at least one parent who speaks English less than “very well.”

Research from Washington state and Minnesota on parental birth country and childhood immunization suggests there may be uneven childhood vaccine coverage for children in some language communities. Similarly, National Immunization Survey data on early childhood vaccination suggests children ages 19-35 months and born outside the U.S. may have lower rates of selected vaccination coverage than other U.S. children.

This may be a sign of gaps in vaccine outreach, education and delivery in languages spoken by families in those communities.

Description

Next Steps

By hearing directly from programs and coalitions, we hope to learn from their on-the-ground experience in our efforts to ensure children whose families speak languages other than English are included in vaccine outreach, education and delivery.

We also hope to document shared challenges that may benefit from policy changes or prioritization from funders focused on promoting child health.

We plan to share results in fall 2025.

This project page was last updated in October 2024.

Suggested Citation

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PolicyLab. The Language and Immunization for Kids Study (LINKS): Identifying Public Health Strategies to Engage Families Who Prefer a Language Other Than English in Childhood Vaccine Uptake [Online]. Available at: http://www.policylab.chop.edu [Accessed: plug in date accessed here].