Disparities in cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination persist among Vietnamese and Latina women. Through a partnership with Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) in Southern California, we conducted in-depth interviews with young adult Latina (n = 24) and Vietnamese (n = 24) women, and PPOSBC staff (n = 2). We purposively sampled vaccinated women to elicit HPV vaccine decision narratives to uncover rich data on motivators, cultural values, and implicit vaccine attitudes. Unvaccinated women were interviewed to identify barriers. Women were also asked to discuss their observations of men’s HPV vaccine attitudes. Narrative engagement theory guided the study privileging the meaning women ascribed to their experiences and conversations related to vaccine decision making. Vaccine decision narratives included (a) mother–daughter narratives, (b) practitioner recommendation of HPV vaccination, (c) independence narratives among Vietnamese women, (d) HPV (un)awareness narratives, and (d) school exposure to HPV knowledge. Barriers to vaccinating included trust in partner HPV status, and family silence and stigma about sexual health. Participants conveyed the importance of including messages aimed at reaching men. Practitioners described insurance barriers to offering same day vaccination at PPOSBC health center visits. Narrative communication theory and methodology address health equity by privileging how Vietnamese and Latina women ascribe meaning to their lived experiences and conversations about HPV vaccination. Identifying authentic and relatable vaccine decision narratives will be necessary to effectively engage Vietnamese and Latina women. These findings will guide the process of adapting an existing National Cancer Institute research-tested HPV vaccine intervention.

Culturally tailored videos that model food-purchasing behavior and mindfulness show promise for improving the quality of foods that Latinas bring into the home.

Latina and Vietnamese women are disproportionately burdened by human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cervical cancer and underutilize the HPV vaccine, which is an effective cancer prevention measure. To inform the adaptation of a National Cancer Institute’s evidence-based cancer control program, HPV Vaccine Decision Narratives, and because of the rapidly changing information concerning consumption patterns of young adults, we elicited preferences and characteristics associated with women’s interest in various health information sources, specifically for HPV vaccination. We conducted 50 interviews with young Latina and Vietnamese women at two Planned Parenthood health centers in Southern California. Interview questions were guided by the Channel Complementarity Theory and focused on understanding the multiple communication channels women turn to for health, and the characteristics that motivate their use. Our results showed that Latina and Vietnamese women turn to many sources, from online and social media to school health classes, mothers, and doctors. Specific characteristics that motivate women’s online use of health information included immediacy and access, convenience and credibility. When receiving HPV vaccine information, privacy, avoiding information overload, interpersonal engagement, and receiving health information from trusted sources was important. Our study advances the prevention literature by elevating the role of platform delivery considerations and emphasizing preferences to effectively reach Latina and Vietnamese women, who are disproportionately burdened by HPV cancers and are less aware of HPV vaccine prevention. These results can be used to further inform the dissemination of this cancer control program. Adaptation of the program should include changes to its delivery, such that trusted sources are used, and dissemination is coordinated to send a consistent message across multiple communication methods.