Benchmark – Population Heath Part II

Sample Answer

Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is among the most common sexually transmitted infections globally. About 75% of sexually active men and women acquire HPV infection in their lifetime.

HPV infections have been associated with cancers that include anal, cervical, penile, vaginal, and oropharyngeal cancers and genital warts. HPV vaccine has demonstrated efficacy in reducing the risk of cancers and genital warts among the populations infected by HPV (Mavundza et al., 2021).

Studies have shown that HPV vaccine has close to 100% efficacy rate in preventing HPV-type related infections, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and adenocarcinoma in situ (CDC, 2022).

Despite this, the uptake of HPV vaccines among females in America is low. Therefore, this research paper proposes an intervention that can be adopted to increase the uptake of HPV vaccine among the unvaccinated in America.

Evidence-Based Intervention

The proposed evidence-based intervention to be adopted to increase the uptake of HPV vaccine among the unvaccinated females is health education. Health education is an intervention that aims at creating and raising awareness among the high-risk population.

It largely entails healthcare providers educating the unvaccinated about the benefits of HPV vaccines and risks associated with their unvaccinated status (Lott et al., 2020). The risk of the unvaccinated populations developing HPV-related complications such as cervical cancer is high as compared to the vaccinated populations (Dilley et al., 2018).

Studies have shown that health education increases the HPV vaccine uptake as compared to usual care. For example, Mavundza et al., (2021) found that tailored education had a positive effect on initiation of HPV vaccine uptake as well as completion among the study participants.

A comparison between tailored and untailored education demonstrated that untailored education has a high effect in the uptake of HPV vaccine as compared to tailored education (Mavundza et al., 2021).

Similarly, Acampora et al., (2020) found that health education interventions that included healthcare-provider delivered education, distribution of educational brochures, delivery of short messages, and social events with power point presentation increased the uptake of HPV vaccine.

Focus groups with healthcare providers, preteens, and parents were found to increase initiation and all-doses completion of HPV vaccines (Acampora et al., 2020). Based on the above, health education will be adopted to influence unvaccinated females to take HPV vaccines and encourage HPV vaccine completion.

The proposed intervention is realistic since it can be delivered during the regular hospital visits by the unvaccinated populations. It also does not require intensive resources for its implementation. It is also realistic since it targets transformation of attitude towards HPV vaccine by increasing awareness levels among high-risk groups (Holloway, 2019).

Implementation Plan, Community and Interprofessional Stakeholders
Healthcare providers, including nurses and physicians will implement the proposed intervention. They will educate the unvaccinated during their visits to the outpatient department and also through community-organized health education forums on HPV.

The implementation process will comprise some steps. One of them will be training nurses and physicians involved in the project. Training will focus on equipping them with the competencies they need to educate the at-risk populations about the importance of HPV vaccine uptake. The second step will be screening preteens and teenagers visiting the hospital for their vaccination status.

They will be educated alongside their parents about the importance of HPV vaccine and completing the required doses. A record of those educated will be maintained for use for follow-up purposes. The other step will entail the delivery of community health education programs about HPV vaccine.

The programs will target both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. A follow-up among the community members will be done to determine their uptake of HPV vaccine and their attitude towards it.

The community stakeholders needed for collaboration will include parents of teens and preteens and informants. Permission from the hospital and community administration will be sought before the implementation of the project. The potential costs of implementation will include training ($15000), printing educational brochures ($3000), transportation cost ($3000), hiring community social hall ($3000), follow-up ($5000), data analysis ($3000), and renumeration for the staff ($20000).

Potential Challenges and Ways of Addressing them

Some challenges may be experienced in the implementation of the proposed intervention. One of them is resistance from the community members and parents of preteen and teenage females. Their resistance may be attributed to their lack of awareness about the benefits of HPV vaccination for their children and fear of the unknown effects.

This challenge will be addressed by educating them about the benefits of the vaccination and risks of their children being unvaccinated. They will also be informed about the minimal risks associated with HPV vaccines. The other challenge is inadequate support from the hospital.

The successful implementation of the proposed intervention requires human resources, finances, and materials. Inadequate support from the hospital may hinder the realization of the desired outcomes. Therefore, an intervention to address this challenge will entail aligning the aims of the project with the organization’s vision and mission (Vu et al., 2020).

The last challenge that may be experienced is medical mistrust among individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. Evidence has shown that the low uptake of HPV vaccines among ethnic minority groups is partly attributed to their mistrust on healthcare systems and healthcare providers. Interventions such as providing comprehensive education about the benefits, addressing stereotypes and misinformation will be embraced to address the mistrust among the community members (Amboree & Darkoh, 2021).

Health Promotion Theory

Health belief model will be adopted to support the implementation of my intervention. Health belief model is a tool that healthcare providers utilize to predict and influence health behaviors. The model operates on the assumptions that individual’s beliefs about their health and health conditions influence their health-related behaviors.

The factors that influence the uptake of HPV vaccines, as seen from the model, include perceived barriers, severity, benefits, cues to action, susceptibility, and consequences of inaction (Fallucca et al., 2022). The model is applicable to the issue of the low uptake of HPV vaccine among the female populations in America.

For example, by educating them about the benefits of the vaccine, they are likely to be vaccinated with the fear of their perceived susceptibility to the different types of cancers. Health education also addresses their perceived barriers to HPV vaccine uptake, hence, increasing the population that has been vaccinated against HPV infection (Oh et al., 2021).

Expected Outcomes

One of the expected outcomes with the proposed intervention is the increase in the proportion of females that receive and complete the required doses of HPV vaccine. The second outcome is the increase in the awareness level of the unvaccinated females about the benefits of HPV vaccines and risks of their unvaccinated status.

The last outcome is the change in the attitude that the population have towards HPV vaccine. The outcomes will be measured by administering short surveys to the population before and after the delivery of health education on HPV vaccines. This will be largely utilized during the community health education programs. The data will be analyzed to obtain insights into the effect of health education on knowledge, attitude, and uptake of HPV vaccination status in the population.

My plan if the outcomes do not show the desired improvement will entail an analysis of the appropriateness and effectiveness of health education interventions that were adopted. The analysis will aid in the development of improvement strategies to enhance the uptake of HPV vaccine by the at-risk population.

Other Factors Contributing to Pervasiveness of the Health Issue
I believe that several other factors contribute to the pervasiveness of the poor uptake of HPV vaccine among females in the USA. They include safety concerns, culture, inadequate knowledge and awareness, lack of provider recommendations, and perceived high costs of the HPV vaccine by the population (Amboree & Darkoh, 2021; Vu et al., 2020).

For example, the perceived risks of HPV vaccines tend to lower its uptake by different populations. I can advocate for social justice, equity, and ethical policies for the unvaccinated by ensuring the adoption of policies that increase their access to HPV vaccine. I can also educate them as an approach to empowering them take responsibility for their health.

Lastly, I can advocate for the use of safe, efficient, and high-quality HPV vaccines that have the lowest possible side effects on them (Abbasinia et al., 2020). The advocacy roles are also applicable to other arenas in healthcare, as I am actively involved in the promotion of high quality and safe care to diverse populations.

Conclusion

In summary, the proposed intervention entails the delivery of health education to raise awareness and increase HPV uptake. Nurses and physicians will provide health education to the unvaccinated female teens and preteens. The anticipated outcomes include increase in HPV vaccination rates, awareness, and positive attitude towards the vaccine by the community members. The Health Belief Model will guide the implementation of the intervention.

References

• Abbasinia, M., Ahmadi, F., & Kazemnejad, A. (2020). Patient advocacy in nursing A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 141–151. https //doi.org/10.1177/0969733019832950
  
• Acampora, A., Grossi, A., Barbara, A., Colamesta, V., Causio, F. A., Calabrò, G. E., Boccia, S., & de Waure, C. (2020). Increasing HPV Vaccination Uptake among Adolescents A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), Article 21. https //doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217997
  
• Amboree, T. L., & Darkoh, C. (2021). Barriers to Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities A Systematic Review. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 8(5), 1192–1207. https //doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00877-6
  
• CDC. (2022, May 6). HPV Vaccine | CDC. https //www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/hpv/hcp/vaccines.html
  Dilley, S. E., Peral, S., Straughn, J. M., & Scarinci, I. C. (2018). The challenge of HPV vaccination uptake and opportunities for solutions Lessons learned from Alabama. Preventive Medicine, 113, 124–131. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.05.021
  
• Fallucca, A., Immordino, P., Riggio, L., Casuccio, A., Vitale, F., & Restivo, V. (2022). Acceptability of HPV Vaccination in Young Students by Exploring Health Belief Model and Health Literacy. Vaccines, 10(7), Article 7. https //doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10070998
  
• Holloway, G. L. (2019). Effective HPV Vaccination Strategies What Does the Evidence Say? An Integrated Literature Review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 44, 31–41. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.10.006
  
• Lott, B. E., Okusanya, B. O., Anderson, E. J., Kram, N. A., Rodriguez, M., Thomson, C. A., Rosales, C., & Ehiri, J. E. (2020). Interventions to increase uptake of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in minority populations A systematic review. Preventive Medicine Reports, 19, 101163. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101163
  
• Mavundza, E. J., Iwu-Jaja, C. J., Wiyeh, A. B., Gausi, B., Abdullahi, L. H., Halle-Ekane, G., & Wiysonge, C. S. (2021). A Systematic Review of Interventions to Improve HPV Vaccination Coverage. Vaccines, 9(7), Article 7. https //doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9070687
  
• Oh, K. M., Alqahtani, N., Chang, S., & Cox, C. (2021). Knowledge, beliefs, and practice regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among American college students Application of the health belief model. Journal of American College Health, 0(0), 1–10. https //doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1967362
  
• Vu, M., King, A. R., Jang, H. M., & Bednarczyk, R. A. (2020). Practice-, provider- and patient-level facilitators of and barriers to HPV vaccine promotion and uptake in Georgia A qualitative study of healthcare providers’ perspectives. Health Education Research, 35(6), 512–523. https //doi.org/10.1093/her/cyaa026