“What’s going on in my body?”: gaps in menstrual health education and face validation of My Vital Cycles ®, an ovulatory menstrual health literacy program

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of adolescent girls with ovulatory menstrual (OM) dysfunction, which is associated with school absenteeism and mental health challenges. Low menstrual health literacy among this group has evoked calls to review OM health education. This qualitative study sought to explore gaps in current OM health education and to validate a holistic school-based OM health literacy program named My Vital Cycles®. Findings are based on 19 written reflections, six focus group discussions and three interviews conducted with 28 girls aged 14–18 years from 11 schools, and five mothers. Six themes compared current OM health education with My Vital Cycles®: understating health, comprehensiveness, resources, teaching, parents and cycle tracking. Future refinements to the program comprised: inclusion of the complete reproductive lifespan, use of visual media and developing a mobile application. These findings inform future research in a whole school approach, strengths-based teaching and changes in the health curriculum.