Adolescent immunization rates lag far behind childhood rates. As a result, adolescents are left needlessly exposed to serious diseases that can cause immediate and irreparable harm, such as meningococcal disease, and infections like hepatitis B and HPV that can lead to long-term health crises, in this case, certain cancers.

One of the prime opportunities to vaccinate and provide counsel about the importance of immunization occurs during regular wellness visits, but adolescents don’t make these visits as often as they should. It is therefore critical to take every opportunity, including visits outside of the routine check-up (e.g. for illness or sports physicals) to open the dialogue with parents and guardians about immunization.

The following tools have been designed as ready-to-use resources to help promote and facilitate patient education, and improve vaccination rates in your practice. We hope you find these useful.

	Backgrounder
	Fact Sheet
	Letter to Parents (from physician)
	Letter to Parents (from school nurse)
	Office Closed Script
	On-Hold Script
	Newsletter Article
	Reminder E-mail
	Reminder Postcard
	Resource List

The following materials have been designed to be prominently displayed in offices and waiting rooms. A card stock heavier than standard copy paper is suggested as well as printing the materials in color. For best results, use 8.5 x 11 size paper for both the poster and tent card.

	Poster
	Tent Card