A culturally and linguistically congruent digital storytelling intervention to promote HPV vaccination: A pilot test (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Despite higher rates of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers in Vietnamese Americans, their vaccination rates remain low. Implementing interventions that integrate culture-specific beliefs and practices could promote HPV vaccination, potentially mitigating the cancer disparities experienced by this population. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a digital storytelling intervention targeting Vietnamese mothers to promote their children’s HPV vaccination. METHODS We co-developed two audiovisual digital stories (English/Vietnamese; each 2-3 minutes long) about HPV vaccination with Vietnamese American mothers of vaccinated children through a 2-day digital storytelling workshop. We then examined effects of this digital storytelling intervention among 114 other Vietnamese mothers of unvaccinated children aged 11-14. Mothers viewed the stories and filled out online surveys immediately before (T0) and after the intervention (T1), and at the 2-month follow-up (T2). Descriptive statistics, paired-sample t-test, McNemar’s test and hierarchical logistic regression were conducted to examine changes in key variables over time and identify factors associate with the HPV vaccine uptake among Vietnamese American youth RESULTS After receiving the DST intervention, mothers (N = 114; mean age = 41.5 years, 35.2% immigrants) showed more positive attitudes toward HPV vaccination, and the proportion intending to have their children vaccinated increased from 53% to 74% (OR = 9.12; Cohen’s g = .40; 2 (1, N = 114) = 17.63, p < .001); 56% reported that their children received the 1st shot at T2. Mothers also expressed high levels of identification and engagement with the stories. Controlling for sociodemographic and HPV-related variables (e.g., family/person cancer history), mother’s post-intervention (T1) vaccination intention (OR = 9.89, CI 95% [2.84-34.40]; p < .001) was positively associated with child’s HPV vaccine uptake (T2). CONCLUSIONS This study’s findings provided preliminary evidence of the positive effects in promoting mothers’ intention to have their children vaccinated against HPV and in facilitating child’s first HPV vaccine uptake.