Increase in Healthcare Professionals' Willingness to Counsel HPV Vaccine Hesitant Parents Post-Pandemic: Results from a National Survey
Author(s)
Yesha Patel, PharmD1, Lisa Spees, PhD2, Stephanie Wheeler, PhD2, Sachiko Ozawa, PhD2.
1PhD student, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 2University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
1PhD student, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 2University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy became increasingly prevalent, making provider recommendations vital for vaccination uptake. Yet, healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) willingness to counsel vaccine-hesitant parents has not been documented post-pandemic. We studied how the pandemic affected HCPs of various races and ethnicities in the United States in their willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents of children ages 9-12 years old.
METHODS: A nationwide survey of 2,527 HCPs was conducted. In the survey, HCPs were asked to state their willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic. Additionally, HCPs were asked about the specific benefits and challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in communicating about HPV vaccination. We analyzed if there were differences by HCPs’ race and ethnicity in their willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents.
RESULTS: Overall, more HCPs are willing to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic regardless of their race and ethnicity. However, we found that compared to White HCPs, Black HCPs are 15 percentage points more likely, Hispanic HCPs are 11 percentage points more likely, and Asian HCPs are 6 percentage points more likely to report a higher willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic (p<0.001). More Black, Hispanic, and Asian HCPs reported parents perceiving HPV vaccination as important for their child as compared to White HCPs (p<0.001). Half of the Black HCPs reported an increase in parents' willingness to talk about the HPV vaccine in contrast to a 31% increase reported among White HCPs (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: HCPs’ willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents have grown post-pandemic, which may help counter the effects of vaccine hesitancy among the public. Black, Hispanic, and Asian HCPs with greater willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents should be trained and empowered to effectively communicate with parents to combat vaccine hesitancy and promote public health.
METHODS: A nationwide survey of 2,527 HCPs was conducted. In the survey, HCPs were asked to state their willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic. Additionally, HCPs were asked about the specific benefits and challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in communicating about HPV vaccination. We analyzed if there were differences by HCPs’ race and ethnicity in their willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents.
RESULTS: Overall, more HCPs are willing to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic regardless of their race and ethnicity. However, we found that compared to White HCPs, Black HCPs are 15 percentage points more likely, Hispanic HCPs are 11 percentage points more likely, and Asian HCPs are 6 percentage points more likely to report a higher willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents post-pandemic (p<0.001). More Black, Hispanic, and Asian HCPs reported parents perceiving HPV vaccination as important for their child as compared to White HCPs (p<0.001). Half of the Black HCPs reported an increase in parents' willingness to talk about the HPV vaccine in contrast to a 31% increase reported among White HCPs (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: HCPs’ willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents have grown post-pandemic, which may help counter the effects of vaccine hesitancy among the public. Black, Hispanic, and Asian HCPs with greater willingness to counsel HPV vaccine-hesitant parents should be trained and empowered to effectively communicate with parents to combat vaccine hesitancy and promote public health.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2025-05, ISPOR 2025, Montréal, Quebec, CA
Value in Health, Volume 28, Issue S1
Code
HSD47
Topic
Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas, SDC: Oncology, STA: Vaccines