Humane PapilloWAS?

In order to find out how information about HPV needs to be prepared to reach the target groups, we are working together with parents, teachers and students in the project “Humane PapilloWAS?” to reveal what is known about HPV and which misinformation is circulating.

Background

Only 46% of the population in Austrian are aware about human papilloma viruses, or HPV, and only 34% associate HPV with cancer. This shows that there are gaps in the population's knowledge of a virus that almost everyone becomes infected with in the course of their life. A vaccination against HPV, which results in 90% protection against cervical cancer, could even eradicate cervical cancer and other HPV related cancer types if the majority of the population were vaccinated. HPV can cause 6 different types of cancer that also affect men. The vaccination should ideally be given to children between the ages of 9 and 13, as they develop the best immune response to the vaccine and the virus. It is therefore important that particularly parents and their children are informed about HPV through the right information channels. In order to find out how information about HPV needs to be prepared to reach the target groups, it is necessary to work together with the relevant groups of people already from the beginning. The project is supported by biomedical scientists, communication experts and people affected by cervical cancer.

Goals

The aim of the project is to give the population an understanding of HPV and its possible effects in order raise their health competence. It can also be a basis for communication measures in similar health-oriented projects in the future.

Realisation

In this project, the most effective information channels and methods were identified in several workshops in 2023 together with citizens, in order to develop a communication strategy for a good education campaign. 

Within a smaller advisory board of citizens, a survey was developed in which around 900 people participated. The results will be evaluated in 2024 and published in an open access journal. Also in 2024, a communication campaign in collaboration with Citizen Scientists will be realised in Salzburg. Moreover, further events will take place to increase HPV awareness.

  (c) BMA / FH Salzburg

Roles within the project:

1. Parents: This group takes on the role of those entitled to make decisions: How do I decide and how do I tell my child?
2. Young people (student representatives): This group takes on the role and perspective of those directly affected when it comes to infection and vaccination.
3. Teachers: This group forms an important intermediate link between parents and students in the transfer of information.
4. Researchers: dissemination of information, science communication, support of citizen scientists, project implementation & workshop moderation

Citizen Science Award 2024

The project is also participating in this year's Citizen Science Award. School classes from the 4th grade onwards & individuals can take part from April 1st, 2024 to July 31st, 2024 and win the Citizen Science Award with prize money of up to € 1.000. Participants are invited to create a short video about HPV for social media and send it to the researchers. The  three best videos will be awarded a prize and used for the awareness campaign. Register now to take part in the award: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Results

The results of the project are available on the project website and on the FH Salzburg website and were presented at an event together with the citizen scientists in November 2023. 

(c) Elena Franke / FH Salzburg

Podcast

If you would like to learn more, you can listen to the "Wissen macht Leute" podcast episode about the project (in German). More information can be found here.

The project also has its own podcast. You can listen to it on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5TdAebPNRHev8PtR8jLzTh.

This project fulfils version 1.1 of the quality criteria for citizen science projects on Österreich forscht.