AT THE NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION CONFERENCE
ATLANTA (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – An intervention to improve human papillomavirus vaccination by a large health care system in Washington and Oregon won approval from the majority of providers and staff, and more than 90% of parents responded by vaccinating their child.
Holly Groom, MPH, of the Center for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, described the intervention to improve HPV vaccination rates within the Kaiser Permanente NW health care system involving two hospitals and 31 medical offices, which serves 44,000 adolescents aged 11-17 years. About a quarter of patients reside in Washington, with the remainder in Oregon.
The intervention focused primarily on educating providers and staff to increase their knowledge of HPV disease and the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, to improve their communication skills regarding HPV and the vaccine, and to decrease missed opportunities for HPV vaccination.
In addition to two in-person provider education and feedback sessions, the intervention included quarterly vaccine coverage, missed vaccination opportunity assessment reports, and a mailed parent survey. The staff education sessions covered six different cancers caused by HPV – cervical, anal, oropharyngeal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar – and their annual incidence, such as an estimated 10,000 oropharyngeal cancer cases in males and more than 11,000 cervical cancer cases in females each year.
One of the tip sheets distributed during provider and staff education offered specific language that providers could use to recommend the vaccine to parents and educate them about what HPV disease is and what cancers it can cause. For parents who are confused or concerned about why the vaccine is recommended at ages 11-12 years, for example, providers can respond, “We’re vaccinating today so your child will have the best protection possible long before the start of any kind of sexual activity. We vaccinate people well before they are exposed to an infection, as is the case with measles and the other recommended childhood vaccines.”
For those providers uneasy about mentioning sexual activity, Ms. Groom said, they can stick with telling parents the vaccine should be administered “long before the risk of infection” without mentioning the mechanism of infection.
Ms. Groom provided three other recommended statements as well:
• “I strongly believe in the importance of this cancer-preventing vaccine.”
• “I have given HPV vaccine to my son/daughter (or grandchild/niece/nephew/friend’s children).”
• “Experts, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, cancer doctors, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also agree that getting the HPV vaccine is very important for your child.”
Feedback from the training sessions was “overwhelmingly positive,” with 87% of the respondents stating that they planned to implement the strategies and tools discussed and an additional 12% said they were already using those strategies and tools.
The parental survey, although it had only a 12% response rate, initially revealed that just over a third (36%) of parents weren’t sure if they were going to vaccinate their child when they went in for a well visit, but more than 90% of these parents did vaccinate their children.
Ms. Groom reported no disclosures. No external funding was reported.
