Overview – co-created campaign for HPV vaccine with young people in Italy #
Despite free access to HPV vaccination in Italy, coverage among adolescents remains suboptimal, particularly among boys. Vaccine hesitancy (VH), low perceived risk, and information avoidance are well-documented barriers that undermine traditional communication campaigns. This project co-created a campaign for HPV vaccines with teenagers in Italy.
Abstract #
Despite free access to HPV vaccination in Italy, coverage among adolescents remains suboptimal, particularly among boys. Vaccine hesitancy (VH), low perceived risk, and information avoidance are well-documented barriers that undermine traditional communication campaigns. Adolescents often receive inconsistent or overly medicalised messages that fail to engage them meaningfully. Recognising this gap, the HPVoice campaign implemented a participatory strategy that positioned adolescents not merely as targets but as co-creators of health communication.
The intervention focused on co-designing Instagram posts with high school students in Tuscany, aiming to create content that is peer-relevant, emotionally resonant, and behaviourally informed. Through a two-phase workshop held in a secondary school, students first received psychoeducational input on HPV, sexual health, and vaccine access. Then, in small peer-led groups, they developed mock-up social media content addressing key vaccination themes.
The co-designed posts were later reviewed by health professionals and used to populate two intervention Instagram pages. The team then tested with a three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving over 500 students across 22 high school classes. Although the RCT results showed limited overall impact on HPV knowledge and VH, the intervention was effective in specific subgroups. Notably, among students with low levels of information avoidance, exposure to the co-created content significantly reduced VH and increased willingness to seek information from sexual health services. Conversely, more traditional, fact-heavy messages the study found to backfire among information-avoidant students, increasing resistance.
This case study demonstrates the value of integrating participatory design methods into digital health promotion for youth. The process not only generated engaging and context-sensitive content, but also empowered students to take active roles in vaccine communication. Specifically, for social marketing context, the project highlights the limitations of one-size-fits-all messaging and underscores the importance of tailoring content to audience receptivity and psychological traits. The team grounded in social marketing and behavioural science, with particular reference to participatory design and youth health communication. It draws on.
Access #
Dario Menicagli – University of Florence dario.menicagli@unifi.it
Location #
Italy
Keywords #
HPV, vaccine, adolescents, co-creation, participatory, instagram, WSMC conference 2025
