Description
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the peer health education gynecological (GYN) workshops at San Diego State University's Health Promotion Department. The study examined the preliminary impact of GYN workshops (information on women's health exams and birth control options) on college students' intentions to get birth control and complete women's health exams. Current peer health educators (PHEs) were trained on how to facilitate a successful workshop. PHEs were trained by taking a required 3-unit class on how to be a peer educator followed by specific training on the GYN workshops. Each workshop lasted approximately 60 minutes. The study sample population consisted of a convenience sample of students attending the GYN workshops. The PHEs leading the workshops recruited study participants to take the pre- and post- evaluations. The workshops served as an intervention to determine changes in: knowledge of birth control methods, expectations of health exams, intentions to see a physician for a woman's health exam and/or birth control. Self-efficacy for choosing a method of birth control, knowing when to schedule a women's health exam, and ability to schedule a women's health exam were also assessed. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) informed the conceptualization of the intervention, evaluation, and data analysis. The current study used validated surveys assessing stages of change by evaluating intention to make an appointment to see a physician. All variables were measured in the pre- and post- evaluations except for the questions on intentions to see a physician after the workshop, which were only asked in the post-evaluation. The results suggest increases in participants' self-efficacy in their ability to schedule women's health exams (p<.001). Significant increases in some of the knowledge-based questions were also found. Of all participants (n=56), 87.5% planned to see a physician in the next 3 months for a birth control prescription and 78.6% planned to see a physician for a women's health exam in the next 3 months at the end of the workshop.
