Collaborating with Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) providers when writing HPV vaccine review articles

Novel strategies are needed to address vaccine hesitancy (VH), which correlates with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In Switzerland, CAM providers play important roles in vaccine counseling of vaccine hesitant (VH) parents, and traditional vaccination messaging tends to overlook CAM provider perspectives. In the setting of a Swiss national research program on VH, our key strategy has been to work together closely with CAM providers. To assess the feasibility of generating educational human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine materials that would interest VH healthcare providers (HCPs), we invited four CAM providers to co-author two HPV vaccine review articles for general practitioners. We conducted thematic analysis of CAM provider comments to identify patterns that could complement and improve vaccination messaging from CAM perspectives. We identified several themes and generated an inventory of CAM provider messaging recommendations related to language use, presentation of background information, nuanced statements regarding HPV vaccine efficacy and safety, and communication tools that would be important to VH HCPs. Contrary to our initial expectations, and in an inclusive, respectful atmosphere of open dialogue, we were able to productively finalize our manuscripts. In the opinion of the CAM co-authors, the manuscripts effectively considered the communication needs and perspectives of VH HCPs. Engaging with CAM providers appears to be a feasible and innovative avenue for providing vaccine information and designing communication tools aimed at VH healthcare providers.