Immunisation initiatives in general practice. Important lessons from division projects

To examine immunisation projects undertaken by divisions of general practice through the Divisions and Project Grants Program in the period from 1993 to mid 1997.

A simple descriptive frequency analysis was conducted of information from the National Information Service Divisions Project database and evaluation reports of the project characteristics and methodology such as: year commenced; duration; location; funding; target groups; intervention; needs assessment; aim(s); study design; measurement (assessment) and outcome(s).

Forty-four funded immunisation projects were identified and of these, 12 projects with completed evaluation reports were analysed. Most projects were of 12-14 months duration, and were funded for a mean of $56,349 and median of $46,348 for the 44 funded projects and a mean $44,348 and median $40,318 for the 12 with evaluation reports. Most projects included a needs assessment. The main target groups were general practitioners, the general community, and children. Of the wide spectrum of interventions used, education and/or promotion and register and/or reminder systems were the most common. Study designs, the quality of measurement and outcomes were variable.

In the future with the move to outcome based block funding, it will be important for projects to adopt broader target groups, refine and develop interventions and develop greater sustainability through responding to local needs, improving design and evaluation and ongoing funding.