By Phoebe Ingraham Renda
Photography by Rayni Shiring, University of Pittsburgh
From left, Sebastian Hymson, Medical Scientist Training Program student, School of Medicine; Kate Brownlee, Director of Hub Operations; Caleb Watson, Physician Scientist Training Program student, School of Medicine; Nathan Raabe, PhD candidate, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health; and Anjolaoluwa “Angie” Oludayo, student, School of Pharmacy, at the Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub.
Many older people do not realize they are at a higher risk for certain illnesses, such as shingles or pneumonia, and that they are eligible for vaccines that could reduce that risk. That’s why three Pitt Health Sciences students applied for a grant to develop educational materials about vaccines for older patients.
The effort is supported by Research!America—an organization that advances civic science by connecting scientists and citizens—through its Civic Engagement Microgrant Program. The applicants were Anjolaoluwa “Angie” Oludayo, a third-year School of Pharmacy student, Nathan Raabe, a School of Public Health doctoral student, and Caleb Watson, third-year Physician Scientist Training Program student in the School of Medicine. Sebastian Hymson, a first-year Medical Scientist Training Program student, School of Medicine, joined the team after the grant submission.
The funding of $2,575 will allow the team to develop educational materials for older patients and create training resources to help student volunteers better meet this population’s health and vaccination needs through the Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub (the Hub) Panther Immunization and Trust Taskforce, which supports the development of educational programming and community engagement efforts focused on vaccination.
The Hub is already dedicated to closing health care gaps for the Pittsburgh community. But as the team began shaping their microgrant proposal, Watson says they quickly recognized the need to broaden the Hub’s educational footprint, as most of their outreach was only reaching people already connected to the Hub through visits or newsletters.
“I’m excited to bridge the gap—I feel like sometimes our elderly patients kind of get pushed to the side. Visibility is key in this population and working in all the jobs I have worked in the past, the elderly population wants somebody to ask them questions. Hopefully this is the foundation not only for visibility for public health, but also elderly health in general,” says Oludayo.
Through this microgrant, the team will work closely with the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (Pittsburgh Pepper Center) and the center’s panel of experts attuned to older adults’ needs. The Division of Geriatric Medicine within the School of Medicine at Pitt is also a large part of this initiative. The division’s connections to older adults are serving as the basis for identifying existing misconceptions and gaps in care.
“This grant is a perfect opportunity to use that connection as a way to broaden our education initiative and make sure that individuals who weren’t previously being exposed to some of our materials would get that opportunity,” says Watson.
Through the Pittsburgh Pepper Center, other senior living communities and individuals willing to participate in research, the Hub and microgrant team will start to strengthen education efforts through lunch-and-learns and provide one-on-one sessions with patients afterward to help answer questions and connect them with resources.
“A big part of this grant is that we’re making a deliverable,” says Raabe, noting that the team will develop a clear, educational toolkit that compiles public health evidence to support older adults and train student volunteers at the Hub.
This toolkit will guide the creation of materials and strategies for student teams to use when visiting senior living communities to shed light on the interface of current pharmaceutical guidelines and medical recommendations regarding vaccines, help indicate which vaccines are recommended and address misconceptions. The team can also review a patient’s medical record to identify any gaps and determine whether any previously received vaccines are no longer effective. Some examples include ensuring that patients are up to date on their shingles and pneumonia vaccines, as recommendations for both vaccines have changed in recent years, and providing the measles vaccine to patients whose vaccination or disease history is unknown.
“This initiative is an opportunity to combine community engagement with health education in a very practical way. Instead of simply distributing information, we’re creating space for real dialogue with older adults—listening to their concerns, answering questions and connecting them with local resources,” says Hymson. “It’s also exciting to see students from different health professions collaborate through the Hub to build something that is both scalable and sustainable for future student cohorts.”