Acting Early to Keep Girls Healthy and Safe

To educate teens and families about HPV, The Duke Endowment in 2007-2010 funded a $430,870 pilot program to develop school-site education and vaccination programs that would increase the number of girls protected against the virus.

Insights

While the program was slow to start, it picked up momentum and served a need in the community by providing education on the HPV vaccine and opportunities to receive the vaccination.

Keys to success included:

• Taking the time to learn from and dialogue with parents in the community
• Developing relationships with the county, district and school administrators
• Seeking input from local medical professionals. This is especially necessary when presenting sensitive material such as this.

To help answer questions about the project, the Endowment developed a set of talking points (doc) about HPV, the vaccine, and the Endowment's partnership with pilot sites.

Impact

Starting in 2007, the Endowment piloted two sites through this grant program.  The goal was to educate parents and offer sixth-grade girls vaccination against the human papillomavirus.

Community Dialogue and Education

In Guilford County, leaders established a strong educational outreach component before offering the HPV vaccine. The Guilford County Health Department focused on developing an education plan and hiring a health educator and senior office assistant.

To test community reactions to a vaccination program, a team of community members and health department staff met with targeted groups and service providers who worked with middle school girls. Education sessions were open to community groups, parents and school staff, providing a forum for information, questions and concerns.

Participation increased as the project progressed. Over 3,000 residents have been exposed to an educational session on HPV.

According to surveys, knowledge about HPV increased among school health personnel and parents.

In Spartanburg County, education and vaccination efforts were held simultaneously. The Spartanburg County Department of Health and Environmental Control and local school board chose three schools in the first year to participate; one opted out after initial meetings prompted critical publicity. The remaining teams held parent focus groups, education sessions and three vaccination clinics.

Vaccination Efforts

In Guilford County, six schools served as vaccination sites and 30 percent of 11 to 12-year old girls received the vaccine, with 90 percent receiving all three doses.

In Spartanburg, nine schools served as vaccination sites and 20 percent of sixth-grade girls received the vaccine, with 87 percent receiving all three recommended doses.

The overall objective of developing a school-site HPV vaccination program was achieved at both sites. Project directors in both states have been invited to submit outcomes to inform the development of the North Carolina Cervical Cancer-Free Initiative led by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill.

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