# IMPROVING HPV VACCINE RATES FOR ABORIGINAL YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN: AN INTERRUPTED TIME SERIES

## TL;DR

This study aims to boost HPV vaccination rates among Aboriginal youth by using a social media campaign co-created with the community and local influencers.

## Contribution

The novel approach combines co-created health messages with micro-influencers to target Aboriginal adolescents through social media.

## Key findings

- Co-created health promotion messages with Aboriginal youth and families will be developed.
- A social media campaign using local micro-influencers will be implemented.
- An interrupted time-series design will evaluate the campaign's impact on vaccination rates.

## Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection that can lead to HPV-related cancers such as cervical cancer and other cancers such as anal, vaginal, and penile cancer. HPV rarely produces symptoms and cannot be cured or treated; therefore, vaccination is essential to protect against HPV and HPV-related diseases. However, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter, respectfully, ‘Aboriginal’) people are not receiving their HPV vaccine dose, resulting in missed opportunities to be protected from HPV-related cancers.

Health promotion is a critical way to empower people to take ownership over and control their health and is a core function of public health. One way to deliver health promotion is through social media platforms. In recent COVID-19 times, we have seen the effect of social media on public health messaging, both positive and harmful. In particular, Instagram influencers have had a profound impact on pro- and anti-vaccination messages. Aboriginal adolescents aged 13-15 years old have strong engagement with social media platforms. Combining co-created health promotion messages with local ‘micro-Influencers’ is a novel way to improve HPV vaccination rates.

The overall aim of this project is to improve the rates of HPV vaccination amongst young Aboriginal people. We will achieve this through: i) co-creation of health promotion messages, ii) developing and delivering a social media campaign and iii) evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign through an interrupted time-series design. We hypothesise that the co-creation of health promotion messages with young Aboriginal people and their families and utilising the skills of micro-Influencers to engage and influence their followers will result in improvements HPV vaccination rates amongst this population.