Strategic health communication on social media: Insights from a Danish social media campaign to address HPV vaccination hesitancy

Vaccination against HPV: boosting coverage and tackling misinformation

“…Many mothers were therefore involved in focus-group interviews to provide insights into their knowledge and the barriers to HPV vaccination, notably the lack of clear information and recommendations about HPV vaccination from health authorities and other organizations they trusted. For further support, a broad network of stakeholders, including professional doctor and nurse organizations or societies, sexual health organizations and patient cancer associations, was involved to back up the launching of the campaign [29].…”

“…However, this Facebook account was inactivated at a later stage, as it had become dominated by users spreading misinformation [29]. Nevertheless, the information campaign had to be visible at platforms were mothers seek information about HPV vaccination, and Facebook was specified as their primary channel of information [28].…”

“…Personal stories from CC survivors, women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or parents in doubt who reached a decision to vaccinate became valuable ‘heart‐stories’ [28]. Conversely, Instagram was essential to reach girls between 15 and 17 years, who were still eligible for free HPV vaccination [29]. Notably, substantial manpower was essential to answer parents’ questions and to prevent misinformation from dominating the digital channel through daily monitoring and prompt responses.…”

“…A joint information campaign launched in 2017 aimed at preventing CC by increasing the uptake of HPV vaccination within the Danish Childhood Vaccination Programme. Extensive preparations preceded a collaborative communications strategy, which combined targeting the press, the social media, doctors and other health professionals, and parents in order to foster an informed decision about HPV vaccination [29].…”

“…Notably, substantial manpower was essential to answer parents' questions and to prevent misinformation from dominating the digital channel through daily monitoring and prompt responses. Students were, therefore, usefully employed to monitor Facebook pages with around-the-clock access to experienced campaign staff [29].…”