A Bespoke Social Network for Deaf Women in Ecuador to Access Information on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Abstract

Many deaf women face the lack of numerous resources related to their personal development. The unavailability of proper information on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), in particular, causes problems of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy in adolescence, sexual violence, complications during pregnancy, etc. In response to this, we have created a social network that delivers SRH content (verified and validated by experts) to women with different degrees of hearing loss. The site features a recommender system that selects the most relevant pieces of content to deliver to each woman, driven by her individual preferences, needs and levels of knowledge on the different subjects. We report experiments conducted in Cuenca, Ecuador, between 2017 and 2018 with 98 volunteers from low- and middle-income settings, aiming to evaluate the quality and appeal of the contents, the coherence of the methodology followed to create them, and the effectiveness of the content recommendations. The positive results encourage the frequent creation of new content and the refinement of the recommendation logic as the cohort of users expands over time.

Health Recommender Systems Development, Usage, and Evaluation from 2010 to 2022: A Scoping Review

“…Seven studies [ 25 , 32 , 34 , 39 , 46 , 84 , 85 ] recommended content from books (e.g., Weight-Less book [ 25 ]). Domain experts: in 16 studies [ 23 , 30 , 35 , 36 , 44 , 45 , 54 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 83 , 84 ] the information source was created by health sciences researchers or clinical professionals (e.g., researchers specializing in behavioral change theories, smoking cessation psychologists, pulmonologists, or nutrition specialists). Similar patients: five studies recommended items extracted from patient databases (e.g., a database of 132 obese youth who had succeeded in managing obesity [ 42 ]), social networks sites by crowdsourcing [ 67 ], or patients with similar health problems [ 31 , 59 , 79 ].…”

“…Domain experts: in 16 studies [ 23 , 30 , 35 , 36 , 44 , 45 , 54 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 83 , 84 ] the information source was created by health sciences researchers or clinical professionals (e.g., researchers specializing in behavioral change theories, smoking cessation psychologists, pulmonologists, or nutrition specialists).…”

“…Fifty-eight percent of the included studies (37/63) disclosed the names of their HRSs and, 19 of them were web-based systems [ 33 , 36 , 43 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 73 , 75 , 76 , 78 , 80 , 81 , 83 ], and 17 were mobile app systems [ 23 , 25 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 51 , 63 , 64 , 74 , 79 , 85 ].…”

From words to actions: systematic review of interventions to promote sexual and reproductive health of persons with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries

“…Robles-Bykbaev et al (2019) reported on an intervention for deaf women in Ecuador, creating a web-based platform where SRH information was conveyed through sign language as well as allow users to interact. 36 They reported positive feedback and acceptability of the platform among people working with deaf women (mainly deaf educators) as did educators, clinicians and others. Reviewers initially differed in risk of bias assessments: some felt that the purposive sampling approach could have created bias, while others felt that this would not have significantly changed the outcome of the study.…”

Potential Risks and Factors of Women’s Health Promotion

“…A retrospective observational study in Ecuador demonstrated that the correct use of social networks could help deaf women facing considerable challenges in accessing information on sexual and reproductive health [ 13 ].…”