NIH-funded project at UNC to see if texts, games and web portals can increase HPV vaccination

Targeted health communication should raise awareness in doctors, parents and preteens

(Chapel Hill, N.C.—Sept. 23, 2014) – Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and also causes various forms of cancer. Yet most HPV-associated cancers could be prevented with a vaccine that’s been available since 2006.

Then why aren’t parents routinely getting their preteens inoculated against HPV the same way they do for measles or whooping cough? Finding out why that happens and what can be done to change it is the task of an interdisciplinary team led by faculty member Joan Cates in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We want to raise awareness among parents and preteens about the availability and benefits of HPV vaccination,” Cates said. “And we want health care providers to be skilled in communicating with adolescents and parents about vaccination.”

Cates and her team from several disciplines at UNC and the Duke University Medical Center received a $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to use and evaluate methods like texts, games and web portals for getting out the word about HPV and the vaccination to prevent it.

The team will work with 48 medical practices and nearly 500 parents and preteens in North Carolina over the next four years. The long-term goal is to prevent HPV-related disease through early intervention and protection.

Reaching the 80 percent national vaccination goal set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for girls who are currently 12 years old or younger would prevent an estimated 53,000 future cases of cervical cancer in women. Meeting the vaccination goal for boys would prevent most of an estimated 7,500 HPV-associated cancers diagnosed in men every year.

The four-year grant project is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in an effort to normalize preteen HPV vaccination and understand how doctors, parents and preteens respond to proactive health communication strategies that include text messaging and interactive web tools that leverage social networks and mobile devices.

“It can be uncomfortable for doctors and parents to talk about vaccinating children against a sexually transmitted infection,” Cates said. “But it is critically important to vaccinate before exposure, so the preteen years are the ideal time to make sure people are protected from contracting the virus in the future.”

Cates and her colleagues are among the first researchers in the nation to focus on the issue from a communications perspective. Cates began working on the issue in 2009 with a social marketing campaign funded by the state of North Carolina. The campaign included print materials and broadcast public service announcements designed to raise awareness with parents and to facilitate communication among doctors, parents and preteens.

The new project uses the unique approach of proactive communication targeted and customized for each of the three different key communities around the issue – doctors, parents and preteens. It is an example of dissemination and implementation research that is increasingly recognized as critical in the fields of health research and practice.

Parents will view print materials and information through a dedicated web portal to learn about HPV vaccination, see testimonials from other parents and enhance conversations about vaccination with their children. Preteens will be able to play age-appropriate, entertaining and informative web-based games about vaccines. Doctors can use print and interactive materials to improve their conversations with parents and preteens, stay updated on a rapidly evolving field and share experiences with other providers.

Cates’ co-investigators on the project include:

• Tamera Coyne-Beasley, professor in the departments of pediatrics and internal medicine, UNC School of Medicine;
• Justin Trogdon, associate professor of health policy and management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health;
• Jamie Crandell, research assistant professor in the UNC School of Nursing and the department of biostatistics in the Gillings School of Global Public Health;
• Sandra Diehl, research associate for the Community Engagement (CARES) unit within the North Carolina Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at UNC; and
• Bernard Fuemmeler, associate professor in community and family medicine at Duke University and the director of mHealth@Duke.

“We will continually assess and refine our messaging and our tactics based on what we learn along the way,” Cates said. “One important outcome of this project will be the development of a cost-effective set of tools and guidelines to share widely with medical practices and bring the HPV vaccination campaign to larger scale.”

School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Kyle York, (919) 966-3323; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Communications and Public Affairs contact: Susan Hudson, (919) 962-8415, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.