Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 11;6(4):e28676.
doi: 10.2196/28676.

Helping Children to Participate in Human Papillomavirus-Related Discussions: Mixed Methods Study of Multimedia Messages

Aurora Occa  1 , Hayley M Stahl  1 , Sarah Julien-Bell  2
Affiliations

Helping Children to Participate in Human Papillomavirus-Related Discussions: Mixed Methods Study of Multimedia Messages

Aurora Occa et al. JMIR Form Res. .

Abstract

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause several types of cancers and genital warts. A vaccine is available to prevent HPV infections, and several efforts have been made to increase HPV education and, eventually, vaccination. Although previous studies have focused on the development of messages to educate children about HPV and the existence of the HPV vaccine, limited research is available on how to help children better communicate with their parents and health care professionals about the HPV vaccination. In addition, limited research is available on the target audience of this study (Italian children).

Objective: This manuscript describes a study assessing the feasibility of using an evidence-based animated video and a web-based game to help children (aged 11-12 years) participate in discussions about their health-in particular when such conversations center around the HPV vaccination-and improve several HPV-related outcomes. The study also compares the effects of these 2 educational multimedia materials on children's knowledge and perceptions of HPV prevention.

Methods: A mixed methods approach consisting of focus group discussions and an experiment with children (N=35) was used to understand children's experiences with, and perceptions of, the animated video and the game and to measure possible improvements resulting from their interaction with these materials.

Results: Both the animated video and a web-based game increased children's knowledge and positive perceptions about HPV and HPV vaccination. Any single message was not more effective than the others. The children discussed aspects of the features and characters they liked and those that need improvements.

Conclusions: This study shows that both materials were effective for improving children's education about the HPV vaccine and for helping them to feel more comfortable and willing to communicate with their parents and health care professionals about their health. Several elements emerged that will allow further improvements in the design and development of the messages used in this study as well as the creation of future campaigns.

Keywords: HPV; animation; child-parent communication; child-physician communication; children; communication technologies; game; health communication; health education; pilot study; vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The human-centered–design approach followed in this project.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Screenshot from the animated video.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Screenshot from the web-based game. HPV: human papillomavirus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Coyne I, O'Mathúna DP, Gibson F, Shields L, Leclercq E, Sheaf G. Interventions for promoting participation in shared decision-making for children with cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Nov 29;11:CD008970. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008970.pub3. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/27898175 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Harder M, Christensson K, Coyne I, Söderbäck M. Five-year-old children's tuning-in and negotiation strategies in an immunization situation. Qual Health Res. 2011 Jun;21(6):818–29. doi: 10.1177/1049732311400629.1049732311400629 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Coyne I. Children's participation in consultations and decision-making at health service level: a review of the literature. Int J Nurs Stud. 2008 Nov;45(11):1682–9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.05.002.S0020-7489(08)00146-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kodjebacheva GD, Sabo T, Xiong J. Interventions to improve child-parent-medical provider communication: a systematic review. Soc Sci Med. 2016 Oct;166:120–7. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.08.003.S0277-9536(16)30425-7 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Thomas SL, Olds T, Pettigrew S, Randle M, Lewis S. "Don't eat that, you'll get fat!" Exploring how parents and children conceptualise and frame messages about the causes and consequences of obesity. Soc Sci Med. 2014 Oct;119:114–22. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.024.S0277-9536(14)00541-3 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources