Justice-involved women’s preferences for an internet-based Sexual Health Empowerment curriculum

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into justice-involved women’s preferences for an internet-based Sexual Health Empowerment (SHE) curriculum. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed data from four focus groups conducted with 52 women in a minimum-security county jail in a Midwestern US city. Findings Women reported daily access to the internet while in the community and use of the internet for searching about health concerns. Four themes emerged in the discussion about preferences for an internet-based SHE curriculum, that it cover healthy sexual expression, how to access resources, video as an educational modality and a non-judgmental approach. Practical implications Justice-involved women are potentially reachable through internet-based health education. Their preferences for content and modality can be used to inform internet-based sexual health programming designed specifically for this population. Using this modality could offer easily disseminated, low-cost and consistent messaging about sexual health for a vulnerable group of women. Originality/value Though internet-based health education programming has been widely utilized in the general population, less attention has been paid to if and how these programs could be utilized with a vulnerable group of women who move between the justice system and communities. This exploratory study begins to fill that gap.

Health Education Initiatives for People Who Have Experienced Prison: A Narrative Review

“…We observed that most of the research conducted on sexual health education focused on HIV infections as the primary concern, and literature [43] has indicated that providing general education and case management services enhances retention in treatment.…”

“…On the other hand, few studies indicate that women leaving prison prefer multimedia interactions [43]. In contrast, other studies suggest that health information delivered via video is more likely to lead to a change in preventive behavior than traditional methods (pamphlets), especially for audiences with less health education [44].…”

Student Pharmacists’ Perceptions of Male Faculty Teaching Female-Specific Sex and Gender Health Topics

“…Lastly, while no previous research was identified explicitly demonstrating a decided student preference for a women's health instructor on the basis of gender within higher education, some participants of a justiceinvolved female sexual health empowerment curriculum focus group stated a decided preference for a female instructor. 13 The question of whether pharmacy students find a male instructor teaching on female intimate treatments embarrassing or improper remains unanswered. This report describes an instance in which, as a result of pre-established faculty workload delegation, male faculty were assigned to deliver the majority of female-specific sex and gender health topics in a pharmacy curriculum at a small, private, not-for-profit college of pharmacy in Southern California.…”

Managing Technology, Content, and User Experience: An mHealth Intervention to Improve Women's Health Literacy after Incarceration

“…29 Previous research has found a preference for multimedia among women leaving jail, specifically; such an intervention has the advantage of rapid deployment, tailoring, and low-cost scalability. 30 Video has gained renewed interest lately as an enhanced method to promote health literacy, either through sharing of user experiences, [31][32][33] or through dedicated health education to increase knowledge and comprehension. 34 Health information presented as video has also been shown to lead to greater behavior change related to preventive screening compared with traditional methods (pamphlets and flyers), especially for audiences with lower health literacy 35,36 (defined as adults who have difficulties in obtaining, understanding, and acting on health information and services, and also have decreased ability to make appropriate health decisions on their own).…”