Educational Videos Promote Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Awareness

A new educational video is being shared online to help young women from different backgrounds learn about contraceptives. The video is available in five different languages. Monash University’s SPHERE Centre of Research Excellence has recently released 13-minute videos. These videos are based on a research project called EXTEND-PREFER. The results of this study were published in the BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health. 

About 30% of people in Australia are born in other countries. Some previous studies show that young people from diverse backgrounds may have more difficulty getting information and care for sexual and reproductive health. This is because they may not have a complete understanding of health. They may not know about available services and face some barriers such as their costs. 

SPHERE will share the videos on websites and social media platforms that focus on multicultural women’s health and general health. These educational videos are important for women to learn about contraception. So, they can make their own choices about reproduction. 

One of the reputed professors, Danielle Mazza conducted a study to understand how these online educational videos helped young women from different cultural backgrounds learn about contraception. In this study, he involved, 160 women. These women were aged 16 to 25 who spoke English, Hindi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Arabian. When he observed the results, he found that these videos increased their knowledge about contraception by 41%.

This research was done to help young women from different backgrounds. It helped them understand and feel more comfortable with long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). LARC methods are very effective contraceptives. It effectively prevents pregnancy. But many women from multicultural communities in Australia do not use them because they do not know enough about them or because of stigma and misunderstandings. It is very important to provide education and support to these women so they can make informed decisions about contraception and avoid unwanted pregnancies. 

These online educational videos are about 13 minutes long. They feature young women from different language groups in Australia. They talk about different contraceptive methods available in the country. They provide information about some important factors such as hormones in contraceptives, how to use them, their effectiveness, their cost and other benefits they have. They also give information about some side effects.