None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Brief description of the study purpose This study aims to find out whether simple text message reminders from a general practitioner (GP) can encourage young adults to learn about and receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which helps prevent certain cancers. Who is it for? This study is for young adults aged 18 to 25 who are patients at a participating GP clinic and are eligible for a catch-up HPV vaccination but have not yet completed it. Study details Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will receive three text messages from their GP over three months, encouraging them to learn about and consider getting the HPV vaccine. The other group will continue with usual care for six months and will then receive the same text messages later. These messages are sent directly to the participant’s mobile phone through GP clinic software. The study will also monitor whether messages are successfully delivered and whether participants respond. Routine health records from the GP clinic may be used to determine whether participants go on to receive the HPV vaccine. Medical records will be used to determine the number of participants who end up getting the recommended vaccine. Survey and interviews will be used to identify facilitators, barriers and other factors for future scale-up of the intervention. It is hoped that this research will show whether simple, low-cost text message reminders from GPs can increase HPV vaccination rates and help prevent HPV-related cancers in young adults.
Interventions
What is the intervention
The intervention is a series of three text messages sent from a patient's general practitioner (GP) delivered at 0, 1 and 3 months. The text messages are designed to prompt the patient to access information about the HPV vaccine and, if relevant, take action to receive the vaccine.
All messages follow the same basic structure: an introduction to the patient (including their first name) and a statement to say this is their GP from Growlife Medical, then a 1-2 line 'key me
What is the intervention The intervention is a series of three text messages sent from a patient's general practitioner (GP) delivered at 0, 1 and 3 months. The text messages are designed to prompt the patient to access information about the HPV vaccine and, if relevant, take action to receive the vaccine. All messages follow the same basic structure: an introduction to the patient (including their first name) and a statement to say this is their GP from Growlife Medical, then a 1-2 line 'key message' followed by a call to action (link to Growlife Medical webpage to access links to existing government and trusted resources and book a vaccine appointment) and a final line with instructions to opt out. There are two sets of three messages. Set 1 of the key messages is designed for people aged 18-24 years. Set 2 of key messages is for those aged 25 years. The key messages for Set 1 (18-24 years) are a) information about the recipients' vaccination status, b) reminder to book the vaccine and statement on safety; and c) reminder they may have missed the vaccine and behavioural messaging with ease framing. The key messages for Set 2 (25 year olds) are a) information about the recipients' vaccination status plus a note about it only being free before they turn 26, b) reminder to book the vaccine before they turn 26 and statement on safety; and c) reminder they may have missed the vaccine, they need to book before they turn 26 and behavioural messaging with ease framing. All messages include a link to a dedicated webpage (only accessible via the link) which includes information on how to book an HPV vaccine at Growlife Medical, some FAQs and links to external resources. The FAQs and general information were developed specifically for this study. The external resources include publicly available webpages, downloads and podcasts including but not limited to: https://www.hpvvaccine.org.au/ https://www.health.gov.au/topics/immunisation/vaccines/human-papillomavirus-hpv-immunisation-service Podcast about HPV vaccine: Podcast Matter of Vax. Immunisation Foundation of Australia. Released July 2023. https://www.ifa.org.au/matterofvax Who delivers it and their relevant expertise The text messages will be sent via GP software to eligible patients. A team including the lead GP, software developers and researchers have designed and reviewed the processes and criteria used to identify patients and send messages. How it is delivered The text messages will be delivered from the GP practice software to the individual patient’s mobile phone. How often and for how long There will be three messages delivered at 0, 1 and 3 months. Where it is delivered The messages are delivered from the patients GP clinic at a specified time. It is unknown where the patient will be located when they receive the message. Adherence The 2nd and 3rd messages will act as reminders to the first message. The software can detect if a message has been delivered successfully, this will be used to monitor the intervention delivery. Additionally, data will be collected for instances where patients contact the GP clinic and request more information about the messages or chooses to opt out from receiving the messages.
Sponsors
The University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Each patient must meet all the following criteria to be enrolled in this trial: • Aged between 18 and 25 years at the time of randomisation o All 25-year-olds will receive the intervention in phase 1. This is to avoid the risk of the group ageing out of eligibility for free vaccine before they could be offered the intervention which could happen if they were in the control arm of the trial. • Is an active patient at the recruiting general practice (Growlife)(per RACGP definition: greater than or equal to 3 medical consultations at clinic in previous 2 years) • Have a mobile phone number recorded in recruiting general practice (Growlife) EMR • Be eligible to receive the HPV vaccine catch-up (under 26 years old, enrolled in Medicare, has not previously received 1 or more doses of the HPV vaccine)
Exclusion criteria
Patients meeting any of the following criteria will be excluded from the trial: • Has opted out of recruiting general practice (Growlife) research activities and/or SMS communications
Outcome results
None listed