Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Julie Volkman
Second Faculty Advisor
Chris Morse
Keywords
health communication; sexual health; HPV; HPV vaccine; young women; college-aged women; patient-provider communication
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC 4.0 BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Young women (ages 18-26) face a multitude of difficulties when choosing to disclose information regarding their sexual health to their provider. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quality of patient-provider communication and the patient’s likelihood to receive the HPV vaccine with an explicit recommendation. Interviews were conducted with 11 young women (M = 21.36; SD = 2.46), with the majority identified as Seniors (n = 4; 36.4%), non-Hispanic (n = 10; 90.9%) and White (n = 9, 81.8%). Interviews were also conducted with two providers, one male and one female (M = 43.5; SD = 7.78), both who identified as non-Hispanic and White, to cross-check the data. Young women and providers were recruited from the Northeast and interviews ranged from 10-30 minutes in length. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed between two researchers following the Grounded Theory coding process (Klose & Seifert, 2017). The collection of qualitative data allowed for a greater understanding of young women’s perspective of their providers, as well as factors that influence their willingness to share sexual health information and receive the HPV vaccine. Suggestions for improvements in communication by providers on sexual health and the HPV vaccine with young women are discussed throughout the research paper.
