Lessons Learned from All for Them: Best Practices for a Cross-Collaboration Approach to HPV Vaccination in Public Schools

Abstract

The Community Preventive Services Task Force endorses vaccination programs in schools to increase access to vaccinations. However, implementing a school-based approach requires substantial coordination, planning, and resources. All for Them (AFT) is a multilevel, multicomponent approach to increase HPV vaccination among adolescents attending public schools in medically underserved areas in Texas. AFT comprised a social marketing campaign, school-based vaccination clinics, and school nurse continuing education. Process evaluation metrics and key informant interviews to understand experiences with AFT program implementation informed lessons learned. Lessons emerged in six domains: strong champion, school-level support, tailored and cost-effective marketing approaches, mobile provider collaboration, community presence, and crisis management. Strong support at district and school levels is vital for gaining principal and school nurse buy-in. Social marketing strategies are integral to program implementation and should be adjusted to maximize their effectiveness in motivating parents to vaccinate children against HPV, which also can be achieved through increased community presence of the project team. Preparing contingency plans and flexibility within the program can facilitate appropriate responses to provider restrictions in mobile clinics or in the event of unforeseen crises. These important lessons can offer useful guidelines for the development of prospective school-based vaccination programs.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in males: Associations of HPV-related knowledge and perceptions with HPV vaccination intention among Korean mothers of boys

“…Healthcare providers, particularly pediatricians, should proactively educate parents about the importance of timely HPV vaccination, debunk misinformation about male HPV vaccination, and frame the vaccine as prevention of noncervical HPV-associated cancers for males. With their professional credibility, providers should be at the forefront to help normalize HPV vaccination as part of gender-neutral, routine adolescent healthcare ( Cuccaro et al, 2023 ). School nurses, who are also well trusted figures by parents, should integrate HPV into sexual health curriculum and strongly encourage parent-son communication to increase boys’ vaccine uptake.…”