Young women’s preferences for contraceptive education & development of an online educational resource

Abstract

Objectives: To explore young women’s preferences for contraceptive education to inform the development of an educational resource and to pilot test the resource with patients and clinicians. Methods: We performed a mixed-methods study to elicit preferences for contraceptive educational resources among patients, develop an online resource, and pilot test the resource with clinicians and patients to assess feasibility, systems usability, and contraceptive knowledge. Results: Forty-one women aged 16-29 completed in-depth interviews: they preferred an online format which was recommended by a clinician, presented contraceptive methods in order of effectiveness, and contained information from experts and experiences from individual users. We adapted an existing website (bedsider.org) to create an online educational resource. Thirty clinicians and thirty patients completed surveys after use. System Usability Scale scores were high among patients (median [IQR]: 80 [72-86]) and clinicians (84 [75-90]). Patients answered more contraceptive knowledge questions correctly after interacting with the resource (9.9±2.7 vs 12.0±2.8, p<0.001). Conclusions: We developed a contraceptive educational resource incorporating end-user feedback that was highly usable and increased patients’ contraceptive knowledge. Future research should assess effectiveness and scalability among a larger sample of patients. Innovation: This contraceptive educational resource can supplement clinician counseling to increase patient contraceptive knowledge.

Keywords

• Contraception
• patient education
• contraceptive education
• online education
• contraceptive knowledge