An exploratory pilot study on health education program to improve health literacy among female in their 20s

Abstract

ObjectiveHealth literacy (HL) is one of the most important concepts in women’s healthcare. The low cervical cancer screening rate for young Japanese women is an urgent issue. Cervical cancer is preventable, and cervical cancer screening behavior is associated with HL. Therefore, the present study aimed to elucidate the effects of a health education program to improve HL among young female undergraduate students in Japan. Immediately after completing the program, participants evaluated their level of satisfaction with and the level of difficulty of the program, their understanding of the educational materials, and the length of the curriculum. Furthermore, 1 month after completing the program, participants evaluated their overall HL and their knowledge of women’s health, and indicated whether they had undergone cervical cancer screening.ResultsThirteen female undergraduate students in their 20s participated. All participants indicated high levels of satisfaction and understanding of the material, and an appropriate level of difficulty of the curriculum. Three participants indicated that the program was too long. All participants had improved HL and knowledge of women’s health after completing the education program, but no significant difference was observed in the cervical cancer screening rate.Trial registration UMINR000036690 April 10, 2018 retrospectively registered

A Brief Educational Intervention Enhances Basic Cancer Literacy Among Kentucky Middle and High School Students

“…A 2015 study of Mexican students’ knowledge of cervical and breast cancer used an educational strategy to increase clinical-focused cancer literacy; the results demonstrated a 21.2% increase in correct responses from pretest to posttest [ 20 ]. A 2018 study measuring health literacy in the context of cervical cancer screening in Japanese women found that an educational intervention increased health knowledge of the adult participants [ 21 ]. These studies point to the possibility of self-care improvements, including behavior changes that can lower cancer risk and increase how often patients seek care, alongside improved knowledge of a particular disease [ 19 , 21 ].…”

“…A 2018 study measuring health literacy in the context of cervical cancer screening in Japanese women found that an educational intervention increased health knowledge of the adult participants [ 21 ]. These studies point to the possibility of self-care improvements, including behavior changes that can lower cancer risk and increase how often patients seek care, alongside improved knowledge of a particular disease [ 19 , 21 ]. The pilot intervention herein has similar potential.…”

Effectiveness of a health education program to improve health literacy among females in their 20s: A quasi-experimental study

“…A literature review regarding HL and women's health suggested that readability, layout, and design were key components in developing effective printed materials [19]. We previously conducted a program development study, and all participants indicated high levels of satisfaction and understanding of the material, an appropriate level of difficulty of the curriculum, and had improved HL and knowledge of women's health after completing the program [15]. We sent e-mails (e.g., information about the menstrual cycle, gynecological diseases and women's health resources) to the participants' smartphone once a month for 3 months after the group lecture.…”

“…The inclusion criteria for both groups were: (ⅰ) female Japanese undergraduate students, (ⅱ) aged 20 years or older. The sample size for each group was set at ≥13 people based on the difference in HL scale scores in our previous study [15]. The study was conducted between March and October 2015.…”

“…To begin to address this gap in knowledge, we previously developed a health education program to improve HL in Japanese women in their 20s [15]. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the program.…”