Elaine Carnegie
Young men with intellectual disabilities' perceptions of HPV and HPV vaccine: a qualitative study on how to communicate HPV vaccine information.
Carnegie, Elaine; Gray-Brunton, Carol; Kennedy, Catriona; Pow, Janette; Willis, Diane; Whittaker, Anne
Authors
Carol Gray-Brunton
Professor Catriona Kennedy c.m.kennedy1@rgu.ac.uk
Associate Dean for Research
Janette Pow
Diane Willis
Anne Whittaker
Abstract
The success of vaccination programs relies on acceptance of recommended vaccines by communities and individuals. There is a paucity of evidence regarding how young men with intellectual disabilities actively produce or receive inclusive and accessible HPV information. As part of a larger qualitative study, we explored how young men with mild-moderate intellectual disabilities contend with information on HPV and how they negotiated safer sex prior to the introduction of the Scottish schools-based gender-neutral HPV vaccination program in 2019. Objectives included identifying strategies for reaching young men with intellectual disabilities; identifying modes of communication that enable young men with intellectual disabilities to discuss HPV; exploring knowledge, awareness, relevance, and participant experiences of HPV vaccination; perceived barriers and facilitators toward vaccination behavior; perceptions of publicly available HPV information and formats. Working with institutions of further education to identify participants, 18 young men chose to participate. Three focus group discussions using activity-oriented questions were conducted. Regardless of ability, a series of activities enabled them to explore questions about their knowledge of HPV and any experience of the vaccination program. Communication aids included familiar objects and symbols from daily life breaking down barriers and power inequities. Data were analyzed drawing on critical discourse analysis. Designed and tailored communication interventions were effective in reaching this population group. Adopting a participatory activity-oriented approach and spending significant time looking at pictures and artifacts enabled young men with mild-moderate intellectual disabilities to discuss behavioral risks and consequences of HPV and to identify design factors for accessible health information.
Citation
CARNEGIE, E., GRAY-BRUNTON, C., KENNEDY, C., POW, J., WILLIS, D. and WHITTAKER, A. 2025. Young men with intellectual disabilities' perceptions of HPV and HPV vaccine: a qualitative study on how to communicate HPV vaccine information. Human vaccines and immunotherapeutics [online], 21(1), article number 2491857. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2491857
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Apr 6, 2025 |
Online Publication Date | Apr 21, 2025 |
Publication Date | Apr 30, 2025 |
Deposit Date | Apr 10, 2025 |
Publicly Available Date | Apr 22, 2026 |
Journal | Human vaccines and immunotherapeutics |
Print ISSN | 2164-5515 |
Electronic ISSN | 2164-554X |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 21 |
Issue | 1 |
Article Number | 2491857 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2025.2491857 |
Keywords | Human papillomavirus (HPV); Vaccine communication; Cancer; Intellectual disability; Sex education; Discourse analysis; Vaccine uptake; Young men |
Public URL | https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2789097 |
Files
CARNEGIE 2025 Young men with intellectual disabilities (VOR)
(906 Kb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
You might also like
Lived experience of work and long COVID in healthcare staff.
(2023)
Journal Article
Managing the long-term effects of COVID-19: implications for community nurses.
(2023)
Journal Article