Translating self-persuasion into an adolescent HPV vaccine promotion intervention for parents attending safety-net clinics.

Baldwin AS1, Denman DC2, Sala M2, Marks EG3, Shay LA4, Fuller S5, Persaud D5, Lee SC3, Skinner CS3, Wiebe DJ6, Tiro JA3.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Self-persuasion is an effective behavior change strategy, but has not been translated for low-income, less educated, uninsured populations attending safety-net clinics or to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. We developed a tablet-based application (in English and Spanish) to elicit parental self-persuasion for adolescent HPV vaccination and evaluated its feasibility in a safety-net population.

METHODS:

Parents (N=45) of age-eligible adolescents used the self-persuasion application. Then, during cognitive interviews, staff gathered quantitative and qualitative feedback on the self-persuasion tasks including parental decision stage.

RESULTS:

The self-persuasion tasks were rated as easy to complete and helpful. We identified six question prompts rated as uniformly helpful, not difficult to answer, and generated non-redundant responses from participants. Among the 33 parents with unvaccinated adolescents, 27 (81.8%) reported deciding to get their adolescent vaccinated after completing the self-persuasion tasks.

CONCLUSIONS:

The self-persuasion application was feasible and resulted in a change in parents' decision stage. Future studies can now test the efficacy of the tablet-based application on HPV vaccination.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:

The self-persuasion application facilitates verbalization of reasons for HPV vaccination in low literacy, safety-net settings. This self-administered application has the potential to be more easily incorporated into clinical practice than other patient education approaches.