Design and evaluation of an Internet site to educate women with disabilities on reproductive health care

Women with disabilities often do not receive adequate reproductive health c are. In order to improve their health, they need to be better informed The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if the Internet can effectivel y be used to educate women with disabilities about reproductive health. A t ime-series design was utilized in which the knowledge of each participant w as tested before and after she toured an Internet site on reproductive heal th. The women were also surveyed for demographic data and for their comment s on the site. To be included in the study, a woman had to be over the age of eighteen and have a mobility impairment. Twenty-sh women from the United States and Canada participated in the study. Like other Internet users, th ey were predominately white, highly educated, and relatively affluent They used the Internet primarily for communication (email). One of the most sign ificant findings in this study was that, although the women surveyed were h ighly educated, they had fundamental deficits in their knowledge of reprodu ctive health. Thus, although these women did not match other women with dis abilities demographically, they shared a need for education on reproductive health. A second significant binding was that the web site was effective i n increasing the participants' knowledge of reproductive health. This was i ndicated by the statistically significant 10.00% increase in post-test scor es over pre-test scores and by the women's positive feedback. Thus, the Int ernet site developed for this pilot study did prove to be a valuable educat ion tool. As the Internet continues to expand and users continue to diversi fy, health education sites of this type should become even more effective i n helping women with disabilities to break down traditional barriers and le ad healthier lives.