Using Innovative Communication Approaches to Boost HPV Vaccination Rates

Background:  Each year in the U.S., 14 million people are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), and 27,000 people are diagnosed with an HPV-related cancer. The HPV vaccine prevents nearly all types of HPV that cause cancer and is recommended at age 11 or 12. However vaccination rates for HPV lag far behind rates for other adolescent vaccinations. Parents may be unaware that three doses of the HPV vaccine are needed in early adolescence and that both boys and girls should be vaccinated.

Program background:  At Group Health Cooperative, an integrated health care delivery system based in Seattle, HPV vaccination rates are below the national target of 80%. To address this gap, the Group Health Foundation and Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) developed a pilot HPV vaccine communication strategy for parents of 11 to 12 year olds to increase immunization rates in seven of Group Health’s 26 primary care clinics and boost HPV vaccine awareness through social media. The project team worked with GHRI’s communications department—including professional writers, designers, and a videographer—to develop an educational brochure, public website, and reminder “window cling” for the primary-care based intervention, and a 90-second music video to boost public awareness. Key messages were: 1) the HPV vaccine prevents cancer in both girls and boys; and 2) three doses are needed starting at age 11-12.   The video cost $13,500 to produce and featured the original song “HPV: Get Vaccine!”—written and performed by a former GHRI employee, with music and back-up vocals provided by several current employees.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The “HPV: Get Vaccine!” music video spread farther and engaged significantly more people than GHRI’s typical messaging on social media. Since its launch on November 10, 2015, the video has reached nearly 8,500 people on Facebook, with an additional 495 impressions on Twitter. Views of the video to date total more than 3,100 on Facebook, 937 on Vimeo, and 294 on YouTube.   Analyses of the Group Health intervention are currently underway, but early reactions are positive, with several pilot clinics using more brochures and window clings than expected. Within seven months after the intervention launched, Group Health clinics that were not part of the pilot began using the brochures and window clings. Comments from clinical staff include: “The window clings are a big hit,” “We like [the window clings] and think they help increase the likelihood that patients will return for their next injection,” and “The new brochures are eye-catching, the layout works for patients, and the headline is spot-on.”   The brochure directs parents to the HPV vaccine “Live Healthy” page on GHRI’s public website, which has become one of the site’s most popular pages, with 855 unique page views since its launch on May 8, 2015, and an average visit duration of more than three minutes.

Conclusions:  Using in-house resources helped keep the project low cost while still producing an effective, far-reaching communication intervention.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Collaborating with communications experts to develop innovative approaches to public health messages helps expand their reach and engagement on social media.