Project Summary
Across the United States and in California, HPV vaccination series completion rates among adolescents and young adults remain well below the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80 percent. Local data sources estimate that 44 percent of adolescent girls in Los Angeles County (LAC) had reported HPV vaccine initiation; of this group, 48 percent completed the series. With the newly revised dosing schedule, communitywide efforts to address gaps in HPV vaccine initiation and series completion will reduce avoidable cancer morbidity/mortality later in life. DHS and CCALAC have brought together LAC providers and immunization stakeholders interested in understanding patient- and system-related barriers to vaccine initiation and series completion rates. P2P funding will enable the roundtable members to explore this issue further, through direct patient involvement and experience.
Our goal is to develop HPV vaccination research priorities and strategies for comparative effectiveness research that are relevant to and that address the unique concerns of our patients. Proposed activities include the following:
- Engage patients to identify barriers to HPV vaccine initiation and series completion, including cultural beliefs.
- Respond to patient needs and ideas to improve HPV vaccine uptake.
- Collaborate with patients to identify unique intervention strategies to overcome barriers and share dissemination ideas.
- Convene meetings to generate research questions for a follow-up HPV vaccination project.
Upon Tier A completion, we will have identified HPV immunization barriers from an engaged patient population, responded to a call to action, and shared evidence-based strategies to address barriers. The proposed SHARE LA infrastructure, processes, and relationships will be implemented with success and align with PCORI’s national priorities.