A participatory method to develop human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine short video content for rural New York parents

Purpose

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake is lower in rural areas, particularly for boys. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate how a participatory approach to developing a series of videos about the HPV vaccine better meets the informational needs of rural parents.

Methods

We recruited six rural parents to participate on a parent advisory board (PAB). The PAB met monthly spanning five months (n = 5 meetings) from February to May 2023. Each meeting focused on an element of video creation, including: 1) Providing feedback on existing HPV vaccine videos created by federal agencies and developing a tailored plan for local rural parents; 2) Providing feedback on the video plan so the study team could draft scripts; 3) Editing scripts; 4) Finalizing video concepts; and 5) Providing feedback to produced videos. Between meetings, parents completed tasks to facilitate the process, which also served as a way for parent input to be documented. We worked with a local, professional videographer to produce the videos. A local parent and a nurse practitioner were recruited as actors.

Results

Six one-minute videos were produced on the following topics: What is HPV?; Does the vaccine prevent cancer?; How does the vaccine work?; Is the vaccine safe?; Who should get the vaccine?; and Where can you go to get the vaccine? The PAB was essential in clarifying source, message, channel and receiver throughout the video creation process.

Conclusions

Engaging parents to co-create a series of one-minute videos supports HPV vaccine confidence efforts in rural areas.