April 10, 2026
In post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) settings, it’s extremely important to make sure that residents and staff receive the appropriate immunizations. That’s why PALTmed created three free self-paced, interactive courses designed for medical directors, attending physicians, NPs, and PAs:
- Immunization Essentials
- How to Talk About RSV in PALTC
- How to Talk About Vaccines in the Pipeline for Older Adults
Elizabeth Sobczyk, MSW, MPH, PALTmed’s associate executive director, who also oversees the Moving Needles initiative, says that Immunization Essentials ”covers current recommendations, communication, billing and coding, and how to incorporate immunizations into QAPI.” She adds that the two How to Talk courses “focus on the science of vaccination and the science of communication. Finding the right talking points has been identified as a key challenge for medical professionals as they interact with residents and family members. These courses try to bridge the information that families say they want with effective strategies for sharing it.”
Ms. Sobczyk emphasizes that each course is a stand-alone offering, so there’s no specific order or number required. She recommends the How to Talk courses for anyone with communication challenges, while Immunization Essentials is great for anyone who’d like a quick refresher or overview of vaccinations and is ready to take action to increase rates in their facility.
She says she’s received positive feedback from people who have taken the courses so far.
“Raising rates can seem daunting, but just one or two small changes can make a measurable difference,” she notes. “In the end, the point isn’t just higher vaccination rates—we want residents who are as healthy as possible and staff who are not burned out on issues that can be mitigated.”
In addition to taking the courses, Ms. Sobczyk has other recommendations for anyone who wants to ensure high vaccination rates for their residents and staff. “There are a number of evidence-based ways to work toward higher vaccination rates for staff and residents. One basic one would be to offer more vaccines to staff and residents on-site. Often, facilities focus only on influenza, COVID, and pneumococcal disease. But shingles, RSV, and potentially other new vaccines coming down the pipeline can prevent significant disease,” she says. “A second recommendation would be to use a multi-vaccine consent form at admission to help save staff time getting family members’ consent with each clinic. We have a sample of that in our recently released guide. The last recommendation would be to serve as a champion for immunization—share why you get vaccinated, get vaccinated with your staff, and set up specific times for every staff shift and family members to ask questions.”
Get more information and register for the courses on PALTlearn or using the links above.