Improving Rural Vaccination Coverage

Upcoming virtual quarterly updates meeting on May 22 featuring a presentation from ACS Emerging Leaders Fellows, register here;
Watch and download the slides from the International HPV Awareness Day seminar "Rural Reach: Accelerating HPV Vaccination Coverage," here;
Recap of the February 2024 quarterly updates meeting; watch here;
Visit the Prevent HPV Cancers in Rural Communities website at stjude.org/hpvrural or sign up here to receive the latest information on our rural HPV coverage efforts and more!

May 2024 Quarterly Updates Meeting

Join us on May 22 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm CST for our next rural HPV vaccination quarterly updates meeting.

The meeting will feature a presentation by the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program that outlines the progress made on specific strategies and actions to enhance HPV vaccination rates in rural communities. Additionally, we will host a presentation by the ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable Emerging Leaders, including Dr. Ha Ngan (Milkie) Vu, Assistant Professor at Northwestern University, Kiara Long, Program Manager at the American Cancer Society National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer, and Dr. Shillpa Naavaal, Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. They will discuss "Best Practices, Challenges, and Solutions to HPV Vaccination in Rural Areas: A Qualitative Study from Three States."

Register here.

Understanding HPV Cancer Rural Disparities

One of the rural priority actions to improve HPV vaccination is on data and understanding the opportunities to target our efforts to improve HPV vaccination coverage and decrease HPV cancers with rural communities. Dr. Jason Semprini, a postdoctoral scholar in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, is working with the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program to deepen understanding of rural-urban disparities in HPV-related cancers. His latest findings indicate a growing gap in HPV cancer incidence between rural and urban settings over the past two decades, with significant increases noted in cervical cancer in women and oropharyngeal cancer in men. Although the incidence of cervical cancer is decreasing overall, the reduction has been slower in rural areas. In contrast, the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer in men is climbing, especially in rural regions. In the next quarterly updates meeting on May 22, Dr. Semprini will give a brief update.

Register here.

February 2024 Quarterly Updates Meeting

The February 21 quarterly updates meeting on improving HPV vaccination coverage in rural areas included discussions and presentations from Dr. Heather Brandt and Cristóbal Valdebenito of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Sara Lolley from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Kim Wolfe from Unity Consortium.

Presenters highlighted progress on six priorities designed to increase HPV vaccination rates in rural communities, including on-time HPV vaccination starting at age 9, and efficient resource distribution strategies. Key collaborations and resources mentioned were the American Cancer Society’s programs and the Indiana Immunization Coalition's HPV Provider Video Series. Additionally, Unity Consortium's 3Cs program and the Announcement Approach Training were discussed. Policy impacts and strategies for tailored communication in rural areas were also explored, alongside a forthcoming national public awareness campaign with a focus on rural demographics.

Sara Lolley emphasized the importance of partnerships and centralized resources to overcome rural challenges, citing vaccine hesitancy and limited healthcare access as significant barriers identified through interviews with rural pediatricians.

Kim Wolfe discussed the Unity Consortium’s role in preventive health and announced the Adolescent Immunization Action Week, inviting participation and highlighting resources available on their website. The meeting's recording is accessible for those interested in the meeting details.

Access the recording of the February 21 meeting here.

2024 Annual Rural Health Association Conference

The Health Equity Conference and the Annual Rural Health Conference in New Orleans

in May 2024 discussed rural health challenges and innovations. Key topics included healthcare disparities among people living in rural communities across the U.S. In terms of vaccinations, the role of pharmacists in rural healthcare was emphasized, particularly through mobile clinics and community pharmacies. Additionally, strategies were shared to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in diverse rural populations, providing valuable insights to enhance vaccination efforts.

The conference also emphasized the role of the CDC Office of Rural Health , Cooperative Extension, and ongoing National Rural Health Association vaccination efforts in addressing public health disparities. A special presentation by Dr. Diane Hall from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussed rural-urban differences in preventable premature deaths, the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in rural settings, and highlighted a CDC-sponsored call-for-papers focused on rural public health issues. The development of rural analysis tools and the use of existing CDC surveillance systems to include rural variables showcased the deepening commitment to understanding and improving health outcomes in rural America. These sessions not only enriched our understanding of rural public health dynamics but also reinforced the critical need for tailored health interventions in these communities.

Preventing Chronic Disease Journal

Preventing Chronic Disease is soliciting submissions for a forthcoming collection titled "Rural Health Disparities: Contemporary Solutions for Persistent Rural Public Health Challenges." This initiative aims to address ongoing public health issues in rural areas such as limited healthcare access, tobacco use, physical inactivity, socioeconomic disparities, and chronic diseases. The collection seeks to showcase current solutions to these challenges and advance discussions beyond traditional biomedical approaches.

Preventing Chronic Disease encourages submissions covering various topics and article types, emphasizing community-based initiatives, policy interventions, and social determinants of health. The submission guidelines require corresponding authors to send an inquiry to the journal Editor in Chief (PCDeditor@cdc.gov), prior to manuscript submission. Accepted manuscripts will undergo internal and external peer review and will be published on a rolling basis. The deadline for inquiries is July 19, 2024, and final manuscripts are due by January 24, 2025. The collection aims to foster dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to improve rural population health.

ACS Rural HPV Vaccination Learning Community

The American Cancer Society and the ACS National HPV Vaccination Roundtable are offering a 10-month free Rural HPV Vaccination Learning Community that began in March. Due to lower HPV vaccination coverage in rural areas, the program invites rural healthcare partners to join a learning community focused on improving HPV vaccination among 9–12-year-olds.

Through a series of virtual sessions and peer-based learning, the rural disparities HPV vaccination learning community will use quality improvement and evidence-based interventions to increase vaccine rates. This no-cost, practical how-to model will serve as a forum for health partners to gain knowledge, exchange promising practices, and talk through challenges to increasing HPV vaccinations in rural settings.

Read more about the program here.

Register for the learning community at https://forms.office.com/r/q8zfWncCgr. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ashley Lach, HPV Program Manager, American Cancer Society at Ashley.Lach@cancer.org

New Publications focused on Rural HPV Vaccination

Facilitators and barriers of HPV vaccination: a qualitative study in rural Georgia.
A recently published study from Petagna et al. (2024) explores the facilitators and barriers to HPV vaccination in rural Georgia, based on 40 interviews across various groups. Key facilitators include existing vaccine knowledge, provider approaches, and vaccination reminders. Major barriers involve a lack of knowledge about HPV, insufficient provider-patient communication, and inadequate healthcare practices. The study aims to use this data to develop interventions to improve HPV vaccination rates in rural areas.

HPV and HPV vaccine awareness among African Americans in the Black Belt region of Alabama.
Research from Lee et al. (2024) delves into the awareness levels regarding HPV and its vaccine within the African American community residing in Alabama's Black Belt region. Findings reveal that 62.5% of participants are aware of both HPV and the HPV vaccine. The study highlights various factors linked to this awareness, such as marital status, family cancer background, and overall health. Interestingly, married individuals exhibit lower levels of awareness, whereas those with a family history of cancer and those in good health demonstrate higher awareness. Additionally, employment status is found to boost awareness of HPV, while active participation in social groups is associated with increased awareness of the vaccine.

Perceptions of a State-Level HPV Vaccine Mandate and Exemption Option in Rural Virginia: A Qualitative Study.
Brooks et al. (2024) explore community perceptions of Virginia's HPV vaccine mandate with a low-threshold exemption option. Interviews with parents, healthcare providers, and leaders revealed widespread confusion about the mandate's nature, concern that exemptions undermine vaccination efforts, and variable enforcement across locales. Despite healthcare provider support for the mandate, there is significant resistance from parents viewing it as government coercion, complicating efforts to enhance vaccine uptake.

Wide Open Spaces

Wide Open Spaces is a series of articles included in the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program’s monthly Path to Prevention newsletter. The series started in January 2023. These articles address ways to improve HPV vaccination with rural communities. Articles are written by guest contributors, who share information on their efforts and success,

in improving HPV vaccination with rural communities. We invite guest contributors to share information on how they are working to improve HPV vaccination in rural areas.
If you are interested in contributing, please email us at PreventHPV@stjude.org.

Recent Wide Open Spaces articles include:

Website: stjude.org/hpvrural
Preventing HPV Cancers in Rural Communities fact sheet
January 2023: St. Jude Rural HPV Vaccination Introductory Meeting recording and materials
March 2023: Improving HPV Cancer Prevention with Rural Communities recording
November 2023: Preventing HPV Cancers with Rural Communities: Updates and Opportunities recording
February 2024: Preventing HPV Cancers with Rural Communities: Updates and Opportunities recording
International HPV Awareness Day Seminar Series - Rural Reach: Accelerating HPV Vaccination Coverage webinar recording
Wide Open Spaces articles are available at stjude.org/hpvrural – read the latest article here.

About the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program

The vision of the HPV Cancer Prevention Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a world free of HPV cancers. The program aims to reduce HPV cancer deaths locally and nationally by increasing on-time HPV vaccination coverage through education, promoting best practice models, and strategic partner engagement locally, regionally, and nationally. The program is committed to ensuring equitable access to HPV cancer prevention, which includes a specific focus on geographic disparities in the southeastern United States and in rural communities. Learn more about the St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program at stjude.org/hpv. Contact the program at PreventHPV@stjude.org for more information.