Communication Inequalities on HPV, Cervical Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research indicates that human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that causes over 70% of cervical cancer cases, disproportionately affects Black women and women of African descent in the United States. Concomitantly, research shows that a "knowledge gap" exists, whereby Black women are significantly less likely to have heard of HPV than their White counterparts. Inadequate access to culturally appropriate health and cancer information may not only reduce racial/ethnic minority women's HPV awareness, but may hinder their abilities to utilize information to prevent and reduce HPV and cervical cancer risks. The proposed study will identify and document the communication needs around HPV infection and vaccination among low-socioeconomic position (SEP) Black women who are primary caregivers of young women and girls aged 7-20. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we will work collaboratively with our community partner, Boston REACH 2010 Breast and Cervical Cancer Coalition (Boston REACH 2010 Coalition) to develop and conduct focus groups that will help to assess HPV and vaccination communication needs to raise community awareness. These activities should prove very useful in strategic communication and outreach with low -SEP Black women in Boston. Along with focus groups, we will systematically disseminate our findings to the Boston REACH 2010 partners, as well as the broader MassCONECT communities, through community-based workshops. The goal of this study is to identify and target HPV communication barriers for low-SEP racial/ethnic minority women in order to reduce HPV and cervical cancer health disparities among this group.