Educational vaccine tools: the French initiative Aging Clinical and Experimental Research

Prevention is an important but neglected is- sue in geriatric medicine. Vaccination plays a major role in prevention of infectious diseases, but its imple- mentation in clinical practice is far from perfect. To improve practice, a group of French experts composed of geriatricians and infectious disease specialists prepared a set of educational material about vaccination for older subjects. The tool has been designed to be used by med- ical teachers to help them teach this topic to other physi- cians, nursing staff and students. The group first defined teaching objectives and reviewed the scientific literature on the efficacy and use of various vaccines in the elder- ly. Results were recorded in 217 slides. These slides were grouped to allow their use for short presentations: the immune system in the elderly and general informa- tion about vaccination; universal vaccines, influenza vaccines, pneumococcal vaccines, Herpes zoster vaccine, pertussis vaccine, vaccines for old travellers. Written comments were added to most slides to help presenters teach the topics. The content and design of the slides were analyzed and discussed by the whole group. The set was collected in a CD with ready-to-use files for oral pre- sentations. This educational tool was presented and giv- en to French teachers in geriatrics. It has been used for educational sessions in geriatric hospital wards, for con- tinuous medical education for general practitioners and for courses for physicians learning geriatrics. It has also been proposed to physicians in charge of medical coor- dination of nursing homes and is available on a web site. (Aging Clin Exp Res 2009; 21: 250-253)