Mixed Method Evaluation of My Vital Cycles®: A Holistic School-Based Ovulatory Menstrual Health Literacy Program

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of ovulatory menstrual (OM) dysfunctions among adolescents, and their menstrual health literacy is poor. The OM cycle can be used as a personal health monitor provided that the skills to understand it are correctly taught. My Vital Cycles^®, a holistic school-based OM health literacy program, was trialed with a Grade 9 cohort in one single-sex school in Western Australia using the Health Promoting School framework. A validated OM health literacy questionnaire was administered pre- and post-program with 94 participants. Functional OM health literacy improved overall, with 15 out of 20 items showing improvement post-program (p < 0.05). In addition, 19 out of 53 items for interactive OM health literacy, and 18 out of 25 items for critical OM health literacy improved (p < 0.05). The improvement in mood concerns (p = 0.002) was unexpected. Thematic analysis of three focus groups of 18 girls revealed four themes of increasing comfort levels; finding the program informative; inclusion of non-teaching support such as healthcare professionals; and suggestions for future refinements. Overall, this Western Australian PhD project which developed and trialed My Vital Cycles^® improved OM health literacy and was positively received. Future research possibilities include understanding the program's impact on mental health and further trials in co-educational settings; amongst different populations; and with extended post-program testing.

Keywords: abnormal uterine bleeding; body image; dysmenorrhea; fertility; health promoting school; menstrual health literacy; mental health; ovulation; restorative reproductive medicine; strengths-based education.

Figure 1

Flowchart of recruitment and retention of participants.