Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement (EXCITE) Announces NEW Funding Recipients!

The Extension Foundation, in cooperation with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy, through an Interagency Agreement with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are funding the Cooperative Extension System to address health disparities among rural and other underserved communities. This initiative is called the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement (EXCITE).

Earlier this year, EXCITE announced two new funding opportunities aimed at enhancing immunization education and awareness across various Extension programs and projects. The first initiative, the Adult Immunization Education Integration Project, offers $125,000 to support the integration of adult immunization education into program series across any discipline. The second initiative, the Adult Immunization Messaging Awareness Project, provides $40,000 to develop tools or methodologies for Extension professionals to raise awareness about adult immunization.

Congrats to all the teams, we are so excited to see what you learn and accomplish in your projects.Both projects represent significant steps toward fostering a more holistic health approach within Extension programming.

Below are the awarded institutions:

Adult Immunization Messaging Awareness:

• Strengthening Arizona's Health through Immunization Awareness Integration with Cooperative Extension Programming and Partnerships, University of Arizona-Arizona Board of Regents

• Rutgers Cooperative Extension - FCHS Vaccination Education Program,Rutgers Cooperative Extension

• Cultivating COVID-19 Vaccine Awareness Among Farmers and Rural Adults in Utah: A Toolkit for Extension Professionals,Utah State University

• Annual Health and Wellness Planner,The Regents of The University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources

• Building Vaccine Confidence, Community Partnerships, and Tailored Messaging for Pharmacists in Arkansas, Division of Agriculture of the University of Arkansas

• MI on the Fly: Integrating Motivational Interviewing Strategies into the Cooperative Extension Education Programming to Increase Community Engagement with Adult Immunization,Washington State University

Adult Immunization Education Integration:

• Show-Me Vax: Building Capacity for Extension to Integrate Vaccine Education into Programming, University of Missouri Extension

• Oregon State Training Community Health Workers, Oregon State University

• Increasing Immunization Messaging and Resource Availability in UA Cooperative Extension’s EFNEP and Diabetes Prevention Multi-Series Classes to Uninsured and Under-Insured Arizonans to Reduce Vaccine Hesitancy, Arizona Board of Regents, University of Arizona

• Integrating the Learn. Understand. Decide. Methodology into How to Talk to Your Doctor in Arkansas, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service

• Integrating Adult Immunization Education into Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Balanced Living with Diabetes Program
  Virginia Tech

• Integrating Adult Immunization Education into the Junior Master Wellness Volunteer Program in Mississippi, Mississippi State University

• Health Extension Training and Capacity-Building for Expanding Access to Vaccination in Rural Communities, Clemson University

• Integrating Heat Resiliency and Immunization, University of Minnesota

• Poverty Informed Care for Communities Integrated with Immunization Education, University of Idaho