HPV Causes 36,500 cases/year in the U.S., 90% preventable with the vaccine (CDC).
Vaccination Rates: 76% of U.S. teens get at least 1 dose, but only 62% complete the series (CDC, 2022).
Cancer Patients at Risk:
3x higher risk of secondary cancers.
24-40% of childhood cancer survivors get vaccinated; much lower than the general population (COG).
Weak immune systems make them more vulnerable to HPV infections.
Why It Matters: Vaccination can prevent future HPV-related cancers, crucial for pediatric cancer survivors.
Financial Barriers
High out-of-pocket costs, even with insurance.
Limited vaccine coverage for uninsured/underinsured patients.
Healthcare System Fragmentation
Inconsistent vaccine availability across hospitals/PCPs.
Poor data integration leads to missed vaccinations.
Provider-Related Issues
Oncologists may not prioritize vaccinations.
Cancer patients have fewer PCP visits.
Vaccine Hesitancy & Misinformation
Concerns about safety during treatment.
Misinformation lowers vaccine uptake.
Logistical Challenges
Scheduling conflicts with cancer treatment.
Transportation difficulties for immunocompromised patients.
Based on their investigations, students will develop concepts to prototype. Their deliverables could include any/all below. In the brief 10-week timeframe, completed solutions are rarely possible. The students’ aim is to generate meaningful and useful concepts that could be actionable by the Design Partner.
Qualitative and quantitative research report
Data collection strategies
Communication Design prototypes—analog or digital
Recommendations for future design directions and interventions
Based on our research and came up with potential solutions for this problem within our scope and feasibility:
Vaccine reminder integration within hospital app for parents
Video Advertisement - A multipurpose video used for promotion
A webpage - provides central place for information
Roadmap of vaccines - Digital and printable roadmap of vaccines
Social media campaign
One pager for nurses and healthcare providers supporting patients in survivorship
Nemours Children's Cancer Hospital site visit
We visited the Nemours cancer hospital to gain insights into the hospital’s ecosystem, talk with staff and doctors, and understand workflows. We:
Observed vaccine-related discussions and barriers faced by families.
Identified the need for educational and engagement tools to empower parents and providers.
Collected qualitative data on how vaccine discussions happen in real-life scenarios.
Personas
Personas were created for all concerned people related to this problem to understand the unique perspectives, pain points, and motivations of parents, patients, and pediatric oncologists.
Journey Maps
Journey maps along with personas helped to identify gaps in communication and emotional triggers influencing decision-making.
Stakeholder map
Stakeholder map helped to visualize the interconnected relationships among key players. It clarified roles and communication flows to target effective interventions.
Rose, bud, thorn
It helped evaluate strengths, opportunities, and challenges in existing vaccination workflows. It highlighted actionable opportunities for improvement.
Provider available and recommended
Few side effects & information
Vaccine supply
The vaccine prevents cancer
Hesitancy
Tracking for compliance
Education
Care Team influence
Ease of access
Manufacturer Monopoly
Shot Adherence
Scheduling Confusion
Barriers to Acceptance
Vaccine Timing Issues
Guidance and Awareness Gaps
Parental Hesitancy
Survivorship Challenges
Parents' interviews
Interviews with parents of pediatric cancer patients revealed that routine vaccinations often take a backseat during cancer treatment. Parents face challenges in managing both treatment schedules and vaccine appointments. They also express concerns about vaccine safety and accessibility. This highlighted the need for a more accessible vaccine section, clear categorization, and timely reminders within the app. These changes would ease stress and ensure crucial immunizations are not overlooked.
Interviews revealed that cancer treatment often overshadows routine vaccinations.
Parents struggled with managing vaccine appointments amid intensive treatment schedules.
Concerns about vaccine safety and accessibility were frequently mentioned.
A clearer, accessible vaccine section with detailed information is needed.
These insights are driving improvements in the Nemours hospital app to better support families.
Summary Diagram
We created summary diagram to consolidate findings from the various research tools. It provided a clear overview to guide brainstorming.
Brainstorming and Difficulty matrix
We did Brainstorming to encourage unrestricted idea generation and Difficulty Matrix to prioritize feasible and impactful solutions. A broad range of potential solutions, later refined using the impact-difficulty matrix.
It helped us focus on developing three key solutions:
Vaccine Awareness Roadmap.
Social Media Awareness Campaign.
Vaccine Reminder Feature for hospital apps.
Ideating Solutions
Findings
Several factors contributed to gaps in HPV vaccination. We focused on those that were feasible to address at our level.
We realized that we needed to propose a solution to raise awareness of the importance of this vaccine for cancer survivors and their families
We heard that parents need reminders and prompting for HPV vaccine
We learned to design a solution to help close a knowledge gap between oncology and primary care providers
Proposed Solutions
Vaccine reminder integration within hospital app for parents
Video Advertisement - A multipurpose video used for promotion
A webpage - provides central place for information
Roadmap of vaccines - Digital and printable roadmap of vaccines
Social media campaign
One pager for nurses and healthcare providers supporting patients in survivorship
The Vaccine reminder app integration
The current Nemours hospital app did not include vaccine reminders. After speaking with parents of pediatric cancer patients, we recognized a clear need for this feature. The cancer treatment process is overwhelming, often causing other healthcare needs, such as routine vaccinations, to be overlooked. With families deeply focused on cancer care, it becomes easy to forget about upcoming vaccines.
By integrating vaccine reminders into the app, parents will receive timely notifications about upcoming and overdue vaccinations, helping them stay on track without additional mental burden. This feature will ensure that essential immunizations are not missed, ultimately supporting the long-term health and well-being of their child.
Vaccine access was not directly available from the main menu. Instead, it was buried two levels deep within the Medications tab, making it difficult to find and less accessible.
Additionally, the vaccine list lacked clear categorization and visual cues to highlight upcoming vaccinations, making it harder for parents to track their child’s immunization schedule.
How the Vaccine reminder app integration will help
Audience: Parents (through hospital apps)
Purpose: Facilitate timely vaccine administration.
Implementation: Feature incorporated into existing Nemours Hospital apps, leveraging their patient portal for seamless communication.
Features:
Dedicated Immunization Button: Added to the main menu for easier and quicker access.
Clear Categorization: Vaccines are organized based on their status (upcoming, completed, overdue) for better clarity.
Informative Descriptions: Each vaccine includes a brief explanation to help parents understand its purpose.
Seamless Reminders: Easy scheduling of reminders for different vaccines and multiple doses to ensure timely vaccinations.
An Awareness campaign
Audience: Parents and Providers
Purpose: Build awareness and reduce hesitancy.
Content Includes:
Slogan and brand narrative.
Facebook paid ads targeting specific demographics.
Influencer partnerships for podcasts and relatable content.
Social media hashtags and messaging templates.
A webpage dedicated to information on HPV, which can be integrated into hospital websites
Video Advertisements: Short, engaging video ads featuring real stories from parents, survivors, and doctors to build trust and emotional connection.
A vaccine Webpage and roadmap
Audience: Parents and Providers
Purpose: Centralized online resource for HPV vaccine information.
Main Feature: A Vaccine Roadmap that visually displays all recommended vaccines by age, helping parents track immunization schedules.
Content Includes: All vaccines details, printable roadmap
Integration: Can be embedded in hospital websites, patient portals, and printable for PCP offices.
Impact: Simplifies vaccine tracking, reduces confusion, and boosts vaccine confidence through trusted hospital-backed information.
Key learnings
The complexity of vaccine information can be a major barrier for parents, highlighting the need for clear, structured communication.
Digital solutions, like vaccine reminders and online roadmaps, are crucial in increasing accessibility and engagement.
A multi-channel approach (digital, print, and social media) maximizes outreach and impact.
Stakeholder collaboration is essential; integrating solutions within hospital systems ensures credibility and adoption.
Conclusion and next steps
These solutions enhance HPV vaccine awareness, accessibility, and adoption, improving pediatric oncology patient outcomes. Next phase of the project would allow the stakeholders to use the research we conducted and test the solutions we proposed.
Next Steps: Pilot the roadmap and app features at Nemours, launch awareness campaigns on a small scale, and measure engagement metrics to iterate on solutions.
Testing the vaccine roadmap and app features at Nemours.
Launching a small-scale awareness campaign and tracking engagement.
Gathering feedback to refine solutions for broader implementation.
User-centered design helps bridge vaccine communication gaps, ensuring more children receive life-saving immunizations.
Impact: These solutions aim to increase HPV vaccine awareness, improve vaccination rates, and create a positive ripple effect in public health.
