Adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination in the United States: Opportunities for integrating pharmacies into the immunization neighborhood

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination faces several barriers, including a social stigma which carries religious and philosophical implications among parents of adolescents as well as young adults. Hundreds of immunization interventions and programs have been developed to address these factors and boost HPV vaccination rates in the United States. We sought to review the existing literature highlighting barriers to HPV immunization, as well as programs targeting increased HPV vaccine uptake in effort to develop novel vaccination initiatives. The most impactful barriers identified were parental stigma and low quality of provider recommendations for the vaccine. Despite the implementation of many HPV initiatives, outcomes of these programs are largely limited to modest improvements in vaccine uptake in small, homogeneous populations. We describe pharmacies as distinctly advantageous but underutilized resources within the immunization neighborhood and propose a novel concept to improve vaccination rates as well as reduce HPV-related disease burden in all demographics.

A multi-site case study of community-clinical linkages for promoting HPV vaccination

“…Community sites spanned non-profit organizations, faith-based organizations, and pharmacies, aligning with other HPV vaccination initiatives found in the literature. [30][31][32][33] Five of the nine clinical sites were FQHCs, an indicator of the commitment among clinical and community sites to providing preventive care to economically disadvantaged populations and a common site for research and quality improvement projects focused on HPV vaccination across the country. 34,35 The profiled linkages included urban and rural settings; inclusion of rural communities is particularly important given the disparities in HPV-related cancers in rural areas of the U.S. 11 Each CCL had unique characteristics, but several common themes emerged from these profiles.…”

Pharmacist insights into adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination provision in the United States

“…10 Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to address the gap in HPV vaccination coverage due to their convenient accessibility. 11,12 In fact, an estimated 95% of U.S. residents live within 5 miles of a pharmacy. 11 Previous studies have assessed parental acceptance of providing HPV vaccination to adolescents in pharmacies.…”

“…11,12 In fact, an estimated 95% of U.S. residents live within 5 miles of a pharmacy. 11 Previous studies have assessed parental acceptance of providing HPV vaccination to adolescents in pharmacies. [13][14][15] Additionally, two prior studies were conducted to assess pharmacists' attitudes and perceived barriers to HPV vaccination in Utah 16 and Alabama.…”

Enrolling a rural community pharmacy as a Vaccines for Children provider to increase HPV vaccination: a feasibility study

“…Among the most promising opportunities to increase HPV vaccination rates, particularly in rural settings, is by utilizing pharmacies as alternative vaccination sites [ 7 , 12 ]. There is a wealth of existing literature advocating for pharmacies to serve in this capacity to reduce barriers and improve access to HPV vaccination, including the 2018 President’s Cancer Panel report on HPV vaccination [ 14 – 16 ]. Some existing resources unique to many pharmacies making them ideal alternative settings for vaccination include: infrastructure and storage capacity for various medications [ 17 ], established vaccine protocols [ 17 , 18 ], longer hours than traditional healthcare provider offices as well as weekend availability [ 19 – 21 ], and convenience/greater accessibility [ 12 , 18 , 22 ].…”