Evaluation of a didactic toolkit for promoting preconception health among nursing and midwifery students

Abstract

Ever higher rates of infertility among the population add to the importance of promoting fertility awareness. A digital didactic toolkit was therefore developed for use as educational material. The cross-sectional observational study aimed to test and evaluate a didactic toolkit on reproductive health in the context of nursing and midwifery students. A convenience sample consisted of 88 nursing and 61 midwifery students, all studying full-time. An evaluation questionnaire was developed based on a literature review. The evaluation included 36 didactic tools within the toolkit, divided into 6 categories: Age and Fertility (n = 3), Understanding Reproduction (n = 2), Lifestyle Factors Affecting Fertility (n = 13), Infection Risks (n = 4), Environmental Hazards (n = 1), and Social Environment Issues (n = 13). MATLAB R2017b and SPSS v.26 were used to organize and analyze the data. A web platform providing information on preconception health received positive feedback and was reported to be ‘very good’ for 5 statements and ‘excellent’ for 3 items. The participants identified several groups that could be interested in the didactic toolkit, such as their peers, students, and couples planning a family. The participants already possessed a considerable amount of information about preconception health when they assessed the didactic tools, hence they focused more on its form and design than its content. Social media should be considered as a platform for the ongoing development of the toolkit. To ensure the content is comprehensible, future studies should include participants who are not healthcare professionals.