The following applies the health issue of HPV immunizations for sexually active women to the Theory of Planned Behavior presented by Ajzen. The population is identified and this is followed by a review of the issues with support from the literature for the application of this theory to this health problem. Survey items are presented and evaluated and this is followed by conclusions.
The population for this paper is 30 Latino females ages 18-30 years; five were age 18, five were age 20, ten were age 22; three were age 23; five were age 24; five were age 26; and two were age 30. These females are single and married mothers. All participants are from Jackson County, Mississippi. This population was chosen since these women are of a sexually active age and are members of a group that may be socially and culturally opposed to getting immunizations in general, and may be opposed to getting the HPV vaccine in particular.
Survey findings showed that these women believed that healthcare officials would be likely to want them to get the vaccine, but family and friends would be opposed to these shots. They also believed that they were not likely to get the vaccines even if they had time since they feared immunizations in general and did not believe in this one.
The following presents a general overview of the health issue that is identified as a health problem. The issue is the continued prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and the risk of this disease that can be contained with the HPV vaccine. The use of this immunization is complicated by the issue of lack of agreement to participate in immunizations in some populations and further, lack of consensus regarding this particular immunization. Sexually active females of childbearing ages are a population that would benefit from this vaccination. The health issue for this paper is whether Latino mothers would be likely to get the HPV vaccine.