Children’s, parents’ and school nurses’ perspectives on HPV vaccination

Abstract in English

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore and describe children’s, parents’, and school nurses’ perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge of the HPV vaccination. Focus group interviews were performed with 17 school nurses to explore their experiences of offering the HPV vaccination to girls aged 10–12 years (Study I). Twenty parents (Study II) and 13 boys (Study IV) were interviewed face-to-face, the parents about their reasoning regarding the HPV vaccination and the boys about information and communication relating to HPV vaccination. A web-based questionnaire was answered by 206 children and 276 parents about their attitudes and knowledge about the HPV vaccination (Study III). The findings showed different perspectives on HPV vaccination from the children’s, parents’, and school nurses’ viewpoints. The school nurses played a significant role in the process of offering and administering the HPV vaccination (Studies I–IV). They provided information about HPV, and strove to avoid influencing the parents’ decision of whether to vaccinate their child (Study I). Teachers were also described as a source of information (Studies III–IV). Parents expressed trust in the Swedish vaccination program, but showed a lack of knowledge about HPV (Study II). Like the parents, the children showed a lack of knowledge, and were only partially involved in the decision-making process regarding HPV vaccination (III–IV). Overall, the vaccination process is complex, and the school nurse and the teacher play important roles. Children and parents need increased knowledge to make informed decisions regarding HPV vaccination.