Using narrative intervention for HPV vaccine behavior change among Khmer mothers and daughters: A pilot RCT to examine feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness

Purpose To develop a theory-guided culturally grounded narrative intervention to promote HPV vaccination behavior and examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of the intervention among dyads of Cambodian American mothers and daughters. Method The principles of community-based participatory research guided the development and evaluation and involved two phases: Phase 1: Development of storytelling narrative intervention videos which focused on a series of HPV vaccination-related messages and which integrated the narrative theory with the revised network episode model (rNEM); Phase 2: conducting the pilot RCT with 19 dyads of Khmer mothers and daughters aged from 14 to 17 years to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the study. Findings Recruitment was completed in 7 months with an overall retention of 84%. The acceptability of the intervention was high, as reflected by the number of positive comments on the narrative video. Preliminary data indicate that vaccine uptake at one-month follow-up was the same (2 vs. 2) between intervention and control groups. However, daughters in the narrative intervention group reported higher intention to receive HPV vaccination within one month compared to the control group (4 vs. 1). Conclusion All the procedures to inform a full RCT were examined, including identification of eligible participants, recruitment, randomization, intervention adherence, and short-term follow-up. The positive preliminary outcomes and feedback support the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the theory-guided narrative intervention.