Recruiting

Narrative Intervention

Sponsor:

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Code:

NCT06808776

Conditions

Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Emotions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Cancer survivor narrative

Healthy eating tips

Study Details

Brief summary:

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluates the association of a narrative communication intervention on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates among 9- to 12-year-olds. The intervention is a brief video from local cancer survivors narrating their stories with an HPV-related cancer diagnosis and recommending the HPV vaccine for cancer prevention. RCT participants will be the parents (n=200) of children ages 9-12 who have not initiated HPV vaccination. Participants will be randomized (1:1) to our intervention or control (placebo video) one week before their child's next primary care visit. Our primary outcome is HPV vaccine initiation (first dose of the HPV vaccine series) among children ages 9-12 at the time of the wellness visit. The study also explores the effect of narratives on theory-based mediators of HPV vaccination, including parents' cognitive (e.g., risk perception) and emotional reactions (e.g., hope, anticipated regret).

Conditions

Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Emotions

Study ID

NCT06808776

Start date

Nov 18, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Mar 31, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Oct 30, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Parent/guardian of a 9-12 year old receiving primary care at a Penn State Health clinic
  • Their child has not previously received or initiated the HPV vaccine
  • Is able to read and understand spoken English or Spanish
  • Has a valid email address and access to a mobile phone, table, desktop or laptop computer to engage in the intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parent of guardian is less than 18 years of age
  • Unable to read and understand spoken English or Spanish
  • Does not have access to a mobile phone, table, desktop or laptop computer

Study Design

Enrollment

200 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Health Services Research

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Cancer survivor narrative video

Parents randomly assigned to this arm will receive the video intervention using their personal devices around two weeks before their child's wellness visit. The video will be approximately 4 minutes in length with three parts: (1) Cancer experience, (2) Vaccine recommendation, and (3) Closing message.

placebo comparator: Placebo video

Parents randomly assigned to this arm will receive the placebo video using their personal devices around two weeks before their child's wellness visit. The placebo video is about healthy eating tips for families with children. The video will be approximately 4 minutes in length.

Interventions

Cancer survivor narrative

The narrative video intervention has three parts: (1) Cancer experience - the cancer survivor narrates his/her experience with an HPV-related cancer, including diagnosis, treatment, and how cancer affected their personal life or family; (2) Vaccine recommendation - the cancer survivor provides brief information about the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and recommend that parents get the HPV vaccine for their child to prevent cancers; and (3) Closing message - The sentence "HPV vaccine is cancer prevention. Talk to your child's healthcare provider about getting the HPV vaccine during the next clinic visit" will appear on the screen.

Healthy eating tips

A publicly available video about healthy eating tips for families with children.

Primary outcome measure

  • HPV vaccine initiation, 9-12 year olds [ Time Frame: One week after clinic visit ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

William A Calo, PhD

717-531-3535wcalo@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

Locations

Penn State Health

Recruiting

Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, 17033

Contacts

Ben Fogel, MD

717-531-7300bfogel@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Last update posted

Feb 24, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • Human papillomavirus vaccine
  • Narrative communication
  • Emotions

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on 2026-02-24.