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The science of
effective vaccine recommendations

TRAIN

A provider recommendation has the single biggest impact on HPV vaccination.1 Use these steps to make an effective recommendation.

1. Announce

The most effective recommendations are presumptive “announcements.”2,3 These are brief statements that assume parents are ready to vaccinate. Providers already use announcements as part of routine clinical care, such as when they tell patients that they’ll take their temperature and blood pressure. Using an announcement for HPV vaccination can help normalize it and make it part of routine clinical care.

 

Here’s an example of how to recommend HPV vaccine for kids ages 9-10:

Alex is now 9, so today they’ll get a vaccine that prevents six HPV cancers.

Here’s how to recommend at ages 11-12 when kids are due for other vaccines:

“Now that Jasmine is 11, she is due for three vaccines. Today, she’ll get vaccines against meningitis, HPV cancers, and whooping cough.”

2. Connect and counsel

When parents are hesitant, providers should identify and address the main concerns using a research tested message. Research shows that parents prefer objective statements, and that it’s best to stay away from personal anecdotes. State your opinion, give a reason to vaccinate, and let parents know you think HPV vaccine is very important for their child.4 

Here are research-tested messages to use to address parents’ main concerns about HPV vaccine. Download this flyer, which also includes the steps of the Announcement Approach, to use when counseling hesitant parents.

This video demonstrates how to use the Announcement Approach and counsel the hesitant parent of a 9-year-old named Marcus.

3. Try again

If parents still decline, it’s important to follow-up when families come in for their next visit. Almost half of adolescents will get it at a later visit, and another quarter say they plan to get it but just haven’t had a chance to yet.5

 

This video shows how to use the Announcement Approach for 11-12-year old patients, including how to use the Try again step for a parent who still declines.

  1. Oh, et al., 2021, Preventive medicine
  2. Brewer, et al., 2017, Pediatrics
  3. Sturm, et al., 2017, Journal of Adolescent Health
  4. Shah et al., 2019, Pediatrics
  5. Kornides et al., 2018, Academic Pediatrics

Take the Next Step

The Announcement Approach Training

The Announcement Approach teaches these techniques.

Learn More