Abstract PO-022: Community-driven recommendations for a culturally and contextually tailored HPV campaign for Arab and Mexican communities in Brooklyn
Authors: Chebli Perla , Sifuentes Sonia , Foster Victoria , Yusuf Yousra , Kazmi Abiha , Idris Sally , Trinh-Shevrin Chau , Kwon Simona 
Published: January 2022

Purpose. Uneven language access in policy implementation perpetuates health disparity for limited English proficient populations. This study engages Arab and Mexican communities in Brooklyn to identify individual, community, and health system-level determinants of HPV vaccine uptake and hesitancy and inform a multilevel and culturally tailored HPV campaign. Methods. Guided by an integrated framework of community-based participatory research and social marketing for behavior change, we are conducting semi-structured interviews with community stakeholders (target n=18; health care providers, community and faith-based leaders) and community members (target n=80; parents/caregivers and adolescents) from the Arab and Mexican American communities in Brooklyn to examine challenges and facilitators to HPV vaccination and garner recommendations for a HPV campaign. Results. To date, we interviewed 14 community stakeholders (9 Arab, 5 Mexican) and 14 parents (11 Arab, 3 Mexican); data collection is ongoing. Preliminary content analysis revealed an overall consensus that in-language HPV-related materials are lacking and translated education is needed in both communities. Both Arab and Mexican parents reported limited knowledge of HPV, including the vaccination status of their adolescents. Recommendations for a HPV campaign were organized around the 4 P's of the social marketing mix (Price, Product, Place, Promotion). For Price, the 2 communities shared restrictive norms about premarital sex, particularly for girls, and the perception that girls only should receive the HPV vaccine. For Product, they agreed that the HPV campaign should be available in-language and emphasize cancer prevention not sexually transmitted illness. Arab parents, in particular, preferred messaging that emphasizes risk reduction for their daughters after they get married and become sexually active. For Place, most participants cited doctors as ideal sources of information. They recommended different campaign dissemination strategies for parents and adolescents: virtual (e.g., Facebook) or in-person interactive workshops conducted in community-based organizations (CBOs) for parents, and social media (e.g., TikTok) for adolescents. For Promotion, all participants agreed that bilingual brochures should be available in doctors' offices and CBOs. Arab parents expressed interest in opportunities for interactive workshops to ask questions and Mexican parents suggested supplementing school-based PTA meetings with opportunities for HPV education. Social media was again mentioned by all as the ideal platform to reach adolescents. Conclusion. Preliminary findings identified low levels of knowledge on HPV and a lack of in-language education reaching these communities. To bridge these gaps and improve reach and vaccination rates, our participatory social marketing approach underscores the need for a multilevel in-language HPV campaign for Arab and Mexican communities that aligns with their cultural norms and leverages existing community assets such as CBOs, healthcare providers, and schools.

Citation Format: Perla Chebli, Sonia Sifuentes, Victoria Foster, Yousra Yusuf, Abiha Kazmi, Sally Idris, Chau Trinh-Shevrin, Simona Kwon. Community-driven recommendations for a culturally and contextually tailored HPV campaign for Arab and Mexican communities in Brooklyn [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-022.