Empowering Vietnamese Americans: A Culture-Centric Digital Storytelling Intervention to Boost HPV Vaccination

This study focuses on increasing HPV vaccination rates among Vietnamese American (VA) youth by engaging their mothers-who are key decision-makers-in culturally relevant video interventions. VA females experience disproportionately high rates of HPV-related cervical cancer and low vaccine uptake. Contributing factors include limited HPV knowledge, low English proficiency, and culturally influenced health beliefs. There is a critical need for tailored, community-driven interventions to address these disparities.

Researchers will evaluate two 4-week video-based interventions: a digital storytelling (DST) intervention featuring personal stories created by Vietnamese mothers and a general teen health video series. Each mother will view one 3-minute video per week over four weeks. The study uses a randomized, 2-arm design with 60 VA mothers of unvaccinated children ages 11-14 assigned to one of the two groups.

The study draws on the Theory of Planned Behavior and a culture-centric health promotion framework. It aims to measure feasibility, acceptability, and changes in vaccination intention and behavior. Follow-up assessments will occur two months post-intervention to evaluate vaccine uptake. Additionally, a subset of participants will complete interviews to explore engagement and refine future trial design.

Data will be collected at baseline, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up using online surveys and secure platforms. To ensure equitable participation, the study incorporates bilingual staff, culturally tailored outreach and community partnerships. Findings will inform future large-scale trials and may help scale culturally grounded HPV prevention strategies for other underserved populations.