This study compared three interventions designed to increase acceptance of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines among elderly hospitalized patients. All individuals 65 and older able to give informed consent (73 patients) who were admitted to one medical floor of an acute care hospital were randomized to one of three groups. All groups received informational pamphlets explaining influenza and pneumococcal disease, their respective vaccines, and indications for their use. The first group received pamphlets only, the second received nursing follow-up, and the third received trained volunteer follow-up. Patients on another medical floor served as controls. The results showed a significant improvement in vaccine acceptance in all three study groups compared to controls for both influenza (78% vs 0%) and pneumococcal (75% vs 0%) vaccines. The differences among the three groups were not significant. No significant differences were found among patients accepting or refusing vaccination with regard to diagnosis, age, length of stay, sex, or having a private physician. We conclude that a simple educational program followed by offering vaccination before hospital discharge can be easily implemented, and dramatically increase immunization rates in this high risk group.

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Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was written in response to my research involving Czech composers Viktor Ullmann, Hans Krasa, Pavel Haas, and Gideon Klein and their connection with the Holocaust. During my studies I traced these composers' footsteps through Prague, Terezín, and Auschwitz. This work aims to convey the turmoil these composers endured under the Nazi regime while celebrating their lives and urging humanity to look at the horrors of the Holocaust in order to consider our current societal issues of genocide. Thus, it straddles the line between programmatic narrative and less explicit non-descriptive music.

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