CLEARWATER – Empath Health is excited to announce it is part of the You’ve Got This campaign to vaccinate older adults. Launched by the USAging-led Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative during cold and flu season, Empath Health is part of a fall push to connect older adults to flu vaccines. Led by USAging and funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative grants are helping communities stay healthy by focusing on those who need it most — older adults, particularly those from historically marginalized and underserved communities in which vaccination rates are low. Empath Health and its community partners will provide vaccinations to Pinellas County residents ages 60 and older with limited access to vaccines.
“As part of this campaign, we are excited to work with our community partners to offer flu vaccines and plan to reach older adults in Pinellas County who otherwise may not be able to get vaccinated,” said Tracy Harvey, Empath Pharmacy and Durable Medical Equipment Operations Director. “This effort fits in perfectly with Empath Health’s mission to remove barriers that certain groups face in accessing essential services.”
“Our grantees have hit the ground running, holding all sorts of events and activities to make sure the most vulnerable in their communities understand how important it is to get vaccinated — and they have found unique ways to do it, too,” said Sandy Markwood, USAging CEO. “Whether it is a cultural event, a local play, a boxing match or other fitness activity, our grantees are using an array of creative strategies to help older adults stay healthy by getting vaccinated.”
Through the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative, USAging has funded Area Agencies on Aging, Centers for Independent Living, Aging and Disability Resource Centers and a range of other community-based organizations to hold events and to provide education — all with the goal of helping the most vulnerable in their communities get vaccinated. To achieve this, ADVC grantees are prioritizing historically marginalized and underserved populations, including African Americans, Latinos, LGBTQ+ communities and individuals for whom English is not their primary language.
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ABOUT EMPATH HEALTH
Empath Health is one of the country’s largest not-for-profit health systems delivering non-acute care and services through its skilled, medical and holistic programs to individuals with chronic, advanced and terminal illnesses and those experiencing grief. The Empath Health integrated network of care provides expert medical, counseling and support services including hospice; home health; palliative care; grief services; all-inclusive elder care; HIV/STI prevention services and support; primary care; physician services; and full-service pharmacy and durable medical equipment (DME). Empath Health is honored to have approximately 26,000 people enrolled in our Full Life Care services in north central, west central and southwest Florida. We have nearly 130 combined years of experience serving individuals during some of their most vulnerable times. Our wide variety of community-based programs reflects our commitment to the preservation of our charitable mission.
ABOUT THE DISABILITY VACCINATION COLLABORATIVE
Led by USAging and funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative will distribute funding to enable organizations across the aging and disability networks to perform an array of vaccination promotion activities. Organizations selected for funding will host community vaccine clinics, provide in-home vaccinations, provide transportation to vaccination sites, and will conduct outreach and education to older adults and people with disabilities among other activities. Learn more at www.usaging.org/advc.
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