Skip to main content

Incorporating Pharmacists into the HPVAX Action Plan

   Throughout the course of this project, my group and I have discovered that local pharmacists can play an important role in HPV vaccine uptake among harder to reach community members. Compared to primary care providers, pharmacists tend to be more accessible, have extended hours, and walk-in options. Pharmacies are typically situated more conveniently in communities that major health centers, as well. Additionally, Gov. Hochul recently signed legislation allowing pharmacists to administer HPV vaccines. The combination of these factors widens the opportunity for vaccination uptake among our primary audience: young adult MSM in Harlem. 

    In the action plan, we honed in on how to best raise awareness among pharmacists about the need for increased vaccination among MSM in Harlem. One tactic we came up with is called "Data Bites: A Lunch & Learn Series." This monthly series will allow local pharmacists and physicians to get to know one another and discuss shared concerns and ways to navigate HPV vaccination uptake. The one-hour sessions will be split into two sections: a presentation by a subject matter expert (i.e., people with lived experience, academics with research experience, representatives from a community-based organization) and small group discussions between pharmacists and physicians. 

    In doing research for this part of the project, I was surprised by how little communication occurs between health care providers. I found that pharmacists and physicians rarely speak unless there is a major patient concern related to medication. This lunch and learn series will allow pharmacists and physicians to have uninterrupted time to collaborate and learn about each other's challenges and assets when combatting HPV. At the end of these discussions, I hope all parties would continue conversing with one another and collaborating to solve this public health problem.


[Posted by Morgan Parker]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Talk About Sex: Part 2

  When our group had initially discussed our idea for the communications campaign, we wanted to target heterosexual men 18-26 in Harlem to get the HPV vaccine. After doing some research, we saw that there was a high need for specifically the men who have sex with men (MSM) group and so we narrowed our population down. Reflecting back, I am interested how our campaign would’ve differed had our target group been more broadly men 18-26 in Harlem. What would’ve been the key differences in our objectives, strategies and tactics? The research shows that the MSM population is more likely than heterosexual males to not use protection during sex and in turn have a higher STI rate. Interestingly, they are more likely to be trust healthcare professionals and be open to getting the HPV vaccine. Thus, for our campaign we focused heavily on behavioral changes around utilizing safe sex practices and on increasing knowledge and awareness around the risks of HPV and the vaccine.   Given the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Let's Talk About Sex

We have now gotten to the action (tactical) plan phase of this project. The action plan is when you get to take all your research, planning and objective and come up with an actionable, feasible and strategic plan for all of the communication messages, materials, activities, channels and so on that you would like to use on the key audiences for your communications program. For our communications program HPVAX we are looking to build awareness and increase the number of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Harlem to get the HPV vaccines and have protected sex to diminish the spread of HPV and oral cancers. One of the key secondary groups we want to target with our program are sexual partners. Sexual partners are such an important group to target for this program as they have such an influence on the primary group- 18–26-year-old MSM in Harlem. Research shows that MSM perceptions of condom use are primarily shaped by social norms and their interactions with sexual partners. If sexual partn...
Post a Comment
Read more