Developing an academic-community partnership to eliminate HPV vaccine disparities in Iowa

Nationally, there are alarming Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical cancer disparities experienced by African American (AA) women. Diagnosis rates of cervical cancer are nearly twice as high in AA women than white women and associated with higher mortality. In Iowa, AA experience significant cancer disparities, with a diagnosis rate 10% higher than whites and higher mortality rates than any other racial group. Promoting the HPV vaccine among AA mothers and daughters offers one opportunity to reduce cervical cancer disparities and spark dialogue within families about the HPV vaccine in a community impacted by lower overall vaccination rates. To address this, an action committee has formed consisting of faculty in public health, nursing and medicine as well as leaders of community organizations, parents and adolescent young women. Supported by a grant from the Iowa Cancer Consortium, this committee was established to: 1) identify community-driven research priorities related to HPV vaccine disparities, 2) develop long-term collaborative research agendas between community and academic partners, and 3) guide culturally-relevant community activities to provide information related to the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer prevention. We will describe our process of engaging community and academic partners, share themes from our key informant interviews, describe our on-going community engagement activities, and highlight the committee’s current research and action agenda. We will conclude with discussing challenges experienced and lessons learned in engaging in a dynamic, flexible, responsive process and discuss key elements and strategies that can facilitate productive, mutually beneficial academic-community research and action partnerships.