Clinical Trial Summary
For the identified groups of patients (survivors of childhood cancer and youth with sickle
cell disease) the investigators want to better understand the barriers to, and facilitators
of, HPV vaccination. Through HCP interviews the investigators will also assess both
attitudinal and logistical obstacles to HPV vaccination. Some subspecialty HCPs may believe,
for instance, that it is the primary care provider's responsibility to vaccinate or they may
be unfamiliar with the requirement to enter vaccination data into CHIRP. Also, in some cases
HPV vaccine may not be readily available in subspecialty clinic locations and/or subspecialty
HCPs may not be Vaccines for Children (VFC) providers. Participants: the investigators will
focus on two patient groups: survivors of childhood cancer, which includes children aged 9-21
years who have completed active therapy for cancer and are eligible for vaccination, and
sickle cell disease, which includes children aged 9-21 years with a diagnosis of sickle cell
disease. The investigators will recruit parents of children aged 9-21 years and older
adolescents aged 18-21 years. For pediatric patients, the investigators selected a lower age
of 9 years because HPV vaccine is licensed down to 9 years of age, and an upper limit of 21
years, as that is considered the upper bound of adolescence by the American Academy of
Pediatrics. For patients 9-17 years of age, only parents will be interviewed by video or
phone because parents are the vaccine decision-makers. For patients 18-21 years of age, the
investigators will interview both young adults and their parents, because, while the young
adult has legal decision-making capacity, in reality, the decision is frequently made jointly
by the young adult and parent, and older adolescents are frequently unwilling to go against
their parents' wishes. All research procedures will be conducted in English. Participants
will be excluded if they have an intellectual disability or severe medical illness such that
they are unable to consent or to understand the questions.
