Step 1: Frame the issue

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute website with information about educational and outreach services provided by the Institute related to HPV.

This article reports on the changes among the Black population of Greater Boston, including the most common counties of origin among the region's Black immigrants, issues of representation, education, income, housing, and wealth creation. Data is taken from the 2012-2015 5-year American Community Survey.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website with city- and census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, health outcomes, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States, including Boston and Lawrence.

Website produced by the County Rankings and Roadmap program presenting rankings for the overall health of counties in each state based on key factors that influence health, such as education rates, income levels, and access to healthy foods and medical care.

2015 reports from UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy that provide a snapshot of educational outcomes for Latino students in Boston.

2010 report from UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy with selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators related to Latinos in Boston. 

Annual reports published by the Massachusetts Cancer Registry on cancer incidence and mortality in Massachusetts and a City/Town Supplement series with town-specific cancer incidence information.

Community-level data for health-related issues in Massachusetts, to assess health needs, monitor health status indicators, and evaluate health programs.

A 2018 fact sheet by Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Urology. This fact sheet includes the risk factors of prostate cancer, its symptoms, and information about the available screening options, such as the PSA ( prostate specific antigen) test and digital rectal exam.  

2010 report from Tufts University with US Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys data on the Black community in Boston.

A website that provides health and wellness data for Boston neighborhoods, offered by the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website with city- and census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, health outcomes, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States, including Boston and Lawrence.

Website produced by the County Rankings and Roadmap program presenting rankings for the overall health of counties in each state based on key factors that influence health, such as education rates, income levels, and access to healthy foods and medical care.

2014 profile of the population that attends the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

2010 report with selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators related to Latinos in the cities of Lawrence and Methuen.

2019 report by the Lawrence General Hospital with data on social, economic, and health indicators from a range of sources, and survey results from 630 residents and 473 health/social service providers within the Merrimack Valley.

Annual reports published by the Massachusetts Cancer Registry on cancer incidence and mortality in Massachusetts and a City/Town Supplement series with town-specific cancer incidence information.

Community-level data for health-related issues in Massachusetts, to assess health needs, monitor health status indicators, and evaluate health programs.

A 2018 fact sheet by Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Urology. This fact sheet includes the risk factors of prostate cancer, its symptoms, and information about the available screening options, such as the PSA ( prostate specific antigen) test and digital rectal exam.  

Partners Health Care System website with information on biobanking efforts that aim to provide researchers access to high-quality samples for research.

This article reports on the changes among the Black population of Greater Boston, including the most common counties of origin among the region's Black immigrants, issues of representation, education, income, housing, and wealth creation. Data is taken from the 2012-2015 5-year American Community Survey.

The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at UMass Boston has released this research report to better understand the social determinants of health shaping the distribution of COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality in the state. 

A 2018 report created by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health with data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for Massachusetts.

A 2020 report with information on the most current trends in cancer on a national and statewide level.

A 2017 report from the American Cancer Society that provides background information on colorectal cancer including risk factors, screening, and treatment. This report also summarizes trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in the US and cover the timeframe 2017 through 2019.

2017 report from the Massachusetts Health Council with data to measure and improve health and health care for individuals and populations in Massachusetts.

2019 report by the Lawrence General Hospital with data on social, economic, and health indicators from a range of sources, and survey results from 630 residents and 473 health/social service providers within the Merrimack Valley.

Annual reports published by the Massachusetts Cancer Registry on cancer incidence and mortality in Massachusetts and a City/Town Supplement series with town-specific cancer incidence information.

Website from the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, with information and resources for providers on increasing HPV vaccination rates, as well as information for patients and parents on HPV.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health website providing links to reports (until 2015) on Massachusetts youths’ health and risk behaviors, including sexual health, experiences, and behaviors for middle- and high-school students.

Community-level data for health-related issues in Massachusetts, to assess health needs, monitor health status indicators, and evaluate health programs.

A 2018 fact sheet by Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Urology. This fact sheet includes the risk factors of prostate cancer, its symptoms, and information about the available screening options, such as the PSA ( prostate specific antigen) test and digital rectal exam.  

A website created by a collaboration of the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with a tool to find cancer statistics, cancer profiles at the state and county level, demographic groups, and interactive maps. 

A 2017 report by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on a 2017-2021 strategic plan to reduce the burden of cancer in Massachusetts.

This report highlights areas of progress in reducing cancer health disparities. An exciting new initiative, it works towards increasing public understanding of cancer health disparities and of the importance of cancer health disparities research. The report also emphasizes the importance and need for continued transformative research and for collaboration among all who are working towards health equity. 

FAQs from the National Cancer Institute’s Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch with information on what biospecimens are, how they are used in research, and why they are important for research.

Website describing an effort by the National Institutes of Health to collect data from 1 million people in the United States to support precision medicine, a new way to prevent and treat diseases that account for each person’s genes, environment, and lifestyle.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website with resources for parents/guardians on how to frame discussions about HPV vaccination.

Definitions of biobanking and biospecimens terms from the National Cancer Institute’s Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch.

A website from the American Cancer Society addressing facts and fears around HPV vaccination.

2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet with information about HPV, the most commonly sexually transmitted infection in the United States and worldwide.

A website with the latest information on the vaccination schedule recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for adolescent males and females.

2015 report from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee describing opportunities to overcome barriers to low HPV vaccine uptake in the United States.

A website from the National Institutes of Health with information focusing on precision medicine, "an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person." 

2016 report from the Cancer Moonshot Task Force describing 10 research recommendations for achieving the Cancer Moonshot's ambitious goal of making a decade's worth of progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in just 5 years. 

An information guide for parents on important vaccinations and health checks for their children from birth to adulthood.

A guide created by the National HPV Roundtable that provides parents with researched and evidence-based information on the health issues of middle school aged youth.  

A Spanish language guide created by the National HPV Roundtable that provides parents with researched and evidence-based information on the health issues of middle school aged youth.  

A guide from the Immunization Action Coalition that provides parents with easy to follow information on HPV and HPV vaccines for youth.

A handout from the American Cancer Society with information on the HPV virus and the HPV vaccine.

A Spanish language handout from the American Cancer Society with information on the HPV virus and the HPV vaccine.

This article reports on the changes among the Black population of Greater Boston, including the most common counties of origin among the region's Black immigrants, issues of representation, education, income, housing, and wealth creation. Data is taken from the 2012-2015 5-year American Community Survey.

The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at UMass Boston has released this research report to better understand the social determinants of health shaping the distribution of COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality in the state. 

A 2016 report by the American Cancer society that details the risks associated with a family history of prostate cancer. By highlighting the risks associated with having a brother, father, or both that have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, this report offers information about the likelihood of men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis.

A 2020 report with information on the most current trends in cancer on a national and statewide level.

A 2017 report from the American Cancer Society that provides background information on colorectal cancer including risk factors, screening, and treatment. This report also summarizes trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in the US and cover the timeframe 2017 through 2019.

A website from the American Cancer Society that provides background information regarding prostate cancer, its causes, risk factors, and prevention strategies. This site also offers pre-and post-treatment options for those that have already been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

A website from the University of Wisconsin that shows the measure of socioeconomic deprivation at the neighborhood level across the nation. This database was created from the 2000 US Census data using 17 different markers for deprivation including education, housing, and income.

A 2018 report from the American Cancer Society that summarizes statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, survival, risk factors, and early detection and screening for Hispanic and Latino populations in the US. This report covers the timeframe 2018-2020.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website with city- and census tract-level small area estimates for chronic disease risk factors, health outcomes, and clinical preventive service use for the largest 500 cities in the United States, including Boston and Lawrence.

A website from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) that provides basic information, screening options, detailed statistics and screening options about prostate cancer. It serves as a tool that helps men decide if and how to be screened. 

2017 report from the Massachusetts Health Council with data to measure and improve health and health care for individuals and populations in Massachusetts.

Website produced by the County Rankings and Roadmap program presenting rankings for the overall health of counties in each state based on key factors that influence health, such as education rates, income levels, and access to healthy foods and medical care.

A website from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion highlighting the Healthy People 2020 goals related to improving vaccinations, including HPV immunizations.

2018 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report with information on national, regional, state, and selected local area vaccination coverage among adolescents aged 13–17 years, with a specific focus on HPV vaccination.

This 2020 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report provides data on national, regional, state, and local area vaccination rates among adolescents aged 13-17 years, with a specific focus on HPV vaccination and looks at other factors such as urbanicity, number of doses, and other vaccines.

2019 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with information on HPV-associated cancers and statistics on the prevalence and incidence of HPV-associated cancers each year by cancer site.

A partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides data on the health of youth and young adults. This website provides data from middle and high school students on including prevalence of physical and mental health conditions, risky health behaviors and protective factors.

This CDC report from 2018 provides a snapshot of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011-2014, and compares childhood obesity prevalence based on race/ethnicity, sex, household incomes, and levels of education among youths in the U.S.

The National Equity Research Database, Boston Edition is based on the American Community Survey as part of the US Census and offers local data on over 150 indicators for the total population of Boston. This database includes information for Boston neighborhoods and the 20 largest municipalities surrounding the metro area as well as data from larger geographic regions with the state. Examples of data included are household income, disability status, race, occupation, household type, citizenship status, and more.

2013 report from the National Cancer Institute with background on HPV and priority actions for the United States and globally to improve uptake of HPV vaccination.

A 2018 guide by the U.S Preventative Service Task Force that provides final recommendations regarding the PSA test (prostate specific antigen) for both doctor and patient. The task force recommends that screening choice should be left to the individual while also explaining benefits and harms in screening certain age groups.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides interactive maps of national, regional, state, and local area coverage rates of recommended vaccinations among adolescents from 2008-2020, including HPV. The TeenVaxView page also includes resources, data sources, and Healthy People 2020 objectives. Data were updated in 2020.

This CDC webpage covers facts about tobacco use, health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke, quitting behavior, and more among African Americans.

This CDC webpage covers history and facts about tobacco use, health effects, quitting behavior and more among American Indians and Alaska natives.

This CDC webpage covers facts about tobacco use, health effects, quitting behavior and more among Asian Americans (including some data on subgroups), Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

This CDC webpage covers facts about tobacco use, health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke, quitting behavior, tobacco use prevalence, and more among Hispanics/Latinos (including some data on subgroups).

A recent interactive fact sheet by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) that provides background information about prostate cancer and the pros and cons of the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test. The fact sheet serves as a guide for men to choose if the PSA test is the right screening tool, and explains the risks associated with this option.

A one-page fact sheet from the CDC that provides basic information about HPV and HPV vaccine in Brazilian Portuguese.

A 2018 report from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with updated guidelines on physical activity to improve overall health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. This report features recommended evidence-based strategies to help get your community going.

A 2018 report from the National Cancer Institute with background on HPV priority actions for the United States and globally to improve uptake of HPV vaccination.

A series of informational “how-to” videos from the United States Census Bureau to learn how to utilize information available from U.S. Census data. Learn how to use the site's "American FactFinder" and other tools to get a clear picture of relevant census data.