Pilot study in the development of an Interactive Multimedia Learning Environment for sexual health interventions: a focus group approach

Abstract

In the UK there are high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies amongst young people. There is limited and contradictory evidence that current sexual health education interventions are effective or that they improve access to appropriate sexual health services. This paper describes the outcome of focus group work with young people that was undertaken to inform the design of an Interactive Multimedia Learning Environment that incorporates message framing, intended for use in sexual health promotion. The focus group work addressed sexual attitudes, behaviour, risk perception, and knowledge of sexual health and sexual health services in Nottingham. The results provided new insights into young peoples' sexual behaviour, and their diversity of knowledge and beliefs. Common themes expressed regarding sexual health services included concerns about confidentiality, lack of confidence to access services and fear of the unknown. The results showed that while the adolescents are reasonably knowledgeable about infection, they do not know as much about the relevant services to treat it. This work emphasizes the need for user involvement throughout the design and development of a sexual health intervention, and will form the basis of the next part of the project.

Sexual health promotion for young people delivered via digital media: a scoping review

“…Formative research with users identifies their content and design preferences 39,68 as well as the likely barriers to adopting the desired behaviours. 152 Involving users more directly with developing narratives for fictional characters 152,153 or inviting young people to provide content, such as film clips, may increase identification with the message source. This is important because the same technique (e.g.…”

“…By taking advantage of the range of digital modalities that young people use, interventions can be delivered through a range of formats, making information as widely accessible as possible for both those who do not attend mainstream services 152 or to overcome any restrictions to access. Multimedia formats such as audio and graphics may facilitate access to content for populations with low literacy.…”

Message framing with respect to decisions about vaccination: The roles of frame valence, frame method and perceived risk

“…Recently, it has been argued that different aspects of perceived risk need to be considered if a more complete understanding of how risk moderates framing is to be achieved (Kiene, Barta, Zelenski, & Cothran, 2005). Therefore, the experiment reported here explores framing for a health behaviour ‐ having a flu vaccination ‐ with respect to two aspects of perceived risk: (1) perceived outcome risk (Rothman & Salovey, 1997) and (2) perceived procedural risk (see Ferguson, Leaviss, Townsend, Fleming, & Lowe, 2005; Goold et al , 2006; Janz & Becker, 1984; Lowe, Farrell, Ferguson, & James, 2001; Lowe, & Ferguson, 2003; O'Connor, Ferguson, & O'Connor, 2005; Orbell, Crombie, & Johnston, 1996; Sheeran & Abraham, 1996). Perceived outcome risk refers to beliefs about the outcome of a procedure (e.g.…”

Exploring the Role of Computers in Sex and Relationship Education within British Families

“…Although the Internet has been found to be engulfed with pornographic material and seductive images (Richardson, 2009), computers have been shown to be purposeful in educating young people about sexual matters (Bay-Cheng, 2001;Fong, Zanna & Elton-Marshall, 2006;Goold et al 2006;Keller & La Belle, 2005;Yom & Lee, 2005).…”