scholarly journals How Can We Improve Knowledge and Perceptions of Menstruation? A Mixed-methods Research Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayoung Moon ◽  
Inkyung Kim ◽  
Habhin Kim ◽  
Suwan Choe ◽  
Soyeon Jeon ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Traditionally, menstrual education has been conducted in the form of lectures directed mainly towards women. This study aimed to design an innovative menstrual education (ME) program that reflects the needs of both young women and men, and to verify its effectiveness.Methods A mixed-method design was used to determine the requirements of an ME program and to assess young adults’ knowledge and perceptions of menstruation and menstrual products. Focus group interviews were conducted with 17 young adults, and 150 young adults participated in an online survey. After developing the ME program, 10 young adults participated in an experiment to verify its effectiveness.Results The interview results showed that young adults wanted more knowledge of various types of menstrual products. The online survey revealed significant differences in knowledge based on participants’ general characteristics and experience; exposure to menstruation and menstrual products had a positive impact on knowledge and perception. In addition, the results indicated that young adults would like ME content to be available on mobile devices and via in-person methods, to be designed for both genders, to draw on menstrual experts’ knowledge, and to incorporate multi-experimental methods. Considering the results, a multi-experimental menstrual education (MEME) program was designed, utilizing hands-on exposure to 60 menstrual products, simulations of the products’ use with a female perineal model, a YouTube video created by the researchers, a true-or-false quiz, and question-and-answer sessions with menstrual experts.Conclusions This study clarified the requirements of an innovative menstrual education program. Consequently, the MEME program not only led to high satisfaction among participants, but also helped to improve knowledge and perceptions of menstruation and menstrual products. In the online survey, results showed a correlation between the extent of received ME, and respondents’ perception of menstrual products. This implies that MEME could change perceptions of menstruation and menstrual products when conducted systematically; by extension, it would contribute to addressing the cause of menstruation-related problems attributed to poverty. Future research could further verify the effectiveness of the MEME program, using a larger sample, for the program’s incorporation into official ME curricula, such as at universities and companies.Trial registration This trial was registered in a Clinical Research Information Service in Korea that was linked with the World Health Organization’s International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (WHO’s ICTRP) (no. KCT0004715), Registered 07 Feb 2020, https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/search_result_st01.jsp?seq=15855

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayoung Moon ◽  
Inkyung Kim ◽  
Habhin Kim ◽  
Suwan Choe ◽  
Soyeon Jeon ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Traditionally, menstrual education has consisted of lectures directed toward women. The objective of this study was to design an innovative menstrual education (ME) program that reflects the needs of both young women and men, and verify its effectiveness. Methods A mixed-method design was used to determine the program needs and assess young adults’ knowledge and perceptions of menstruation and menstrual products. Focus group interviews were conducted with 14 young adults, and 150 young adults participated in an online survey. After developing the ME program, 10 young adults participated in a study to verify its effectiveness. Results Interview results showed young adults wanted more information about menstrual products. The online survey revealed significant differences in knowledge based on participants’ general characteristics and experience; exposure to menstruation and menstrual products positively impacted knowledge and perception. In addition, the results indicated young adults wanted ME content access via mobile and in-person modalities, designed for both genders, drawing on menstrual experts’ knowledge. Based on these results, a multi-experimental menstrual education (MEME) program was designed and included: hands-on exposure to 60 menstrual products, product demonstrations with a female perineal model, a YouTube video created by the researchers, a true-or-false quiz, and question-and-answer sessions with menstrual experts. Conclusions This study clarified the requirements of an innovative menstrual education program. It led to high satisfaction among participants, and improved knowledge and perceptions of menstruation and menstrual products. The online survey showed a correlation between the extent of received ME, and respondents’ perception of menstrual products. This implied that a MEME program could change perceptions when conducted systematically; by extension it could ameliorate menstruation challenges attributed to poverty. Future research could further verify the effectiveness of the MEME program, using a larger sample, and examine its suitability for incorporation into official ME curricula at universities and companies. Trial registration This trial was registered in a Clinical Research Information Service in Korea linked with the World Health Organization’s International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (WHO’s ICTRP) (no. KCT0004715), Registered 07 Feb 2020.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Wessam Atif ◽  
Mohamed Farid ◽  
Kota Kodama

The World Health Organization states that everyone should play a role in contributing to food hygiene. In this article, we introduce the first online consumer-based platform for restaurant hygiene reviews, a platform that may provide a transparent channel for consumers to play their role in food hygiene. While public purchase decisions may be significantly affected by online consumer reviews, currently there are no dedicated websites for consumers to add restaurant hygiene reviews (RHRs), which is an expression coined in this article. The new platform helps consumers post food hygiene reviews by answering a series of questions while visiting any restaurant, and it also gives them an option to report food hygiene violations to the authorities. This website may help future research if the data collected is analyzed to understand trends in food hygiene violations noticed by the public; we also plan to have annual awards for the best restaurant in food hygiene based on consumer reviews. The questionnaire provided will also contribute to consumer food hygiene education. This platform is expected to bring food hygiene into the context of daily life and add to pressure on the restaurant industry to follow food hygiene requirements, thereby leading to a positive impact on environmental health.


Author(s):  
Ewelina Suchacka McBroom ◽  
Zhonghong Jiang ◽  
M. Alejandra Sorto ◽  
Alexander White ◽  
Edwin Dickey

Secondary geometry teachers from several urban school districts participated in a two-year professional development focused on integrating dynamic geometry into teaching. The chapter documents the positive impact of the professional development for teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) development and their students' achievement in geometry through the use of the dynamic geometry approach. Instruments used to develop and assess teachers' TPACK included a Conjecturing-Proving Test, interviews and observation protocols. Participants' TPACK levels were identified using a TPACK Development Levels Assessment Rubric. Findings show that teachers' TPACK tended to remain within the three middle TPACK levels (accepting, adapting, and exploring). Recommendations and suggestions for future research are offered to those who implement school-based, mixed methods research studies involving technology.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seow Ting Lee ◽  
Mallika Hemant Desai

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to clarify the conceptual building blocks of relationship building between non-governmental groups (NGOs) and news media, which is essential for the development of civil society where dialogue is a product of ongoing communication and relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an online survey with a sample size of 296 NGOs from India. The data are analyzed with SPSS to test six hypotheses related to dialogic orientation, media relations, relationship quality and the NGOs’ structural characteristics. Findings – The study found that an organization's dialogic orientation has a positive impact on media relations knowledge and strategy but not on the action dimension that focusses on providing information subsidies to journalists. A stronger dialogic orientation is also associated with better organization-media relationships. A stronger engagement in media relations also has a more positive impact on the quality of organization-media relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study are limited to a sample of NGOs from India. Future research should address more diverse samples to better understand the dynamics of media relations in NGOs, and how their patterns of media relations, use of information subsidies, culture and media choice shape news coverage and their impact in developing civil society. Originality/value – By approaching media relations from an organizational perspective to investigate media relations in the NGO sector to address an under-researched area, the study is able to draw out the significant relationships between and among three distinct and yet connected conceptual building blocks of public relations.


2022 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 174550652110706
Author(s):  
Alana K Munro ◽  
Melanie Keep ◽  
Erin C Hunter ◽  
Syeda Z Hossain

Objectives: There has been increased attention to university students’ experiences of menstrual disorders, and access to menstrual products, in high-income countries. Less attention has been directed to other aspects of their menstrual experience, including confidence for menstrual management. This study aimed to understand the factors affecting university students’ confidence to manage menstruation at university. Methods: An online survey was completed by 410 participants (age range: 16–46 years, mean = 20.1 years) who menstruate and study at an Australian university. Participants reported demographic characteristics, confidence to manage menstruation at university, and personal, physical and environmental factors. A Mann–Whitney U-test analysed differences in confidence between groups of students. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and bivariate linear regressions determined associations between factors and confidence. Statistically significant associations were inputted into a multiple linear regression model. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: A minority of students (16.2%) felt completely confident to manage their menstruation at university. Menstrual knowledge, positive perceptions of menstruation and comfort to discuss menstruation with others positively predicted confidence. Physical menstrual symptoms, negative perceptions of menstruation, perceived stigma and using a menstrual cup or period underwear predicted lower confidence. In multiple regression, private and clean and sanitary university bathroom facilities, changing menstrual products at university, perceived stigma and negative perceptions of menstruation remained significant predictors. Conclusion: Most students did not have complete confidence to manage their menstruation at university. Several personal, physical and environmental factors were related to students’ confidence to manage menstruation. Assessment of these factors in future research with university students is recommended to enable a comprehensive understanding of their menstrual needs, and inform interventions aimed at improving their menstrual management confidence at university.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Sara S. Alsubaie ◽  
Abbad M. Alabbad

Recent studies on language acquisition and motivation have targeted Japanese language learners in a formal educational context, with less attention paid to learners who study Japanese informally. The current study aims to investigate the impact of Japanese animations in the context of informal third language acquisition. It targets the native speakers of Arabic who are interested in learning Japanese as a third language (L3), and investigates the motivations of Arab teenagers and young adults to learn Japanese. Further, the paper also focuses on examining aspects of Japanese language proficiency among teenagers and young adults, including vocabulary enhancement and grammar competence. The methodology used in the current study is twofold: an online survey questionnaire adopted from Armour and Iida (2016), followed by an engaging experiment in which participants were divided into two groups (reality anime group vs. action anime group) in order to examine the effectiveness of anime selection in boosting proficiency level. The findings of the online survey indicate that Arabic native speakers are highly motivated to learn Japanese, while the experiment results confirm that the type of anime and consistency of exposure do support the acquisition process. Further, the study concluded that consumption of anime series contributes to the learning process and facilitates learners' proficiency in general and vocabulary learning in particular. However, it remains unknown whether or not Arabic native speakers' motivations lead to their enrollment into formal Japanese foreign language education. Avenues for future research and implications are also presented toward the end of the paper.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liora Tuchman ◽  
Ida Williams

The purpose of this study was to examine if going to sleepaway camp before the age of 16 was a factor that reduced levels of homesickness in first-year students at the University of Florida. In this study, the researcher sent out an online survey to first-year students at the University of Florida through social media, email, and text message. The questions asked the participants about both college and camp experience and asked the participants if they attended sleepaway camp before the age of 16. The results show going to sleepaway camp had a minimal effect on homesickness levels in first-year students at the University of Florida, but attending sleepaway camp had a positive impact on “college experience.” These findings provide implications for future research by showing factors of the camp experience that help in the college experience. Ultimately, discovering if there is a connection in attending sleepaway camp and a positive camp experience will not only help the students themselves but also the camp community and parents of children who attend sleepaway camp.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kah-Yue Low ◽  
Kai-Shuen Pheh ◽  
Chee-Seng Tan

Abstract As depression has become a major disease burden in Malaysia, an easy-to-use tool with good psychometric is urgently needed to facilitate the screening process. The current study investigated the psychometric qualities of the 5-item World Health Organization Well-being Index (WHO-5) and the optimal cut-off point for depression screening in the Malaysian context. A total of 610 undergraduate students answered an online survey consisting of the English version of the WHO-5 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the single-factor model. The WHO-5 also demonstrated good reliability and concurrent validity. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that ≤ 13 was the optimal threshold with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The results support the usability of the WHO-5 to screen for depression among young adults in Malaysia. Moreover, the findings are also consistent with the literature highlighting the potential of the WHO-5 as a cross-cultural tool for depression screening.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 3852-3858 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Shahbaz ◽  
A. G. Kazi ◽  
B. Othman ◽  
M. Javaid ◽  
K. Hussain ◽  
...  

Malaysia has faced many supply chain issues that not only have affected enterprises but also the overall economy. Natural disasters that badly affect the performance of Malaysian enterprises strongly demand a comprehensive investigation of supply chain risks. Effective mitigation strategy can only be operationalized when risks are appropriately identified and assessed. Supply chain collaboration has been verified to have a positive impact on the performance but only a limited number of studies investigate it as a risk mitigation tool. The current study presents a guiding framework for identification, assessment, and migration of environment side risks for Malaysian manufacturing. A questionnaire has been developed and distributed by systemic probability sampling. Data have been collected from the Federation of Manufacturing Malaysia through an online survey. The data were purified from missing values and outliers and were analyzed through structural equational modeling through Smart PLS. A total of nine environment side risks were identified. In risk assessment, it has been found that an environment side risk has negative effects on supply chain performance. While these risks can be mitigated through supply chain collaboration, they cannot be mitigated completely. This study will help managers to understand how environment side risks are affecting enterprise performance and how they can avoid these risks. This study covers only environment side risks while future research can be on operational risks and various other approaches that can be proposed for mitigation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
Farhan Sarwar ◽  
Tahir Masood Qureshi ◽  
Siti Aisyah Panatik

Work to Family Facilitation considers that time and other resources spent on the job by an individual can have a positive impact on family life. The current study tests to what extent this perception affects the employee’s level of job satisfaction, affective commitment, and self-rated job performance. A systematic random sample of 293 faculty members from 30 public and private universities of Pakistan filled an online survey. Results from path analysis performed in AMOS indicate that Work to Family Facilitation is significant and positive predictors of all three outcomes variables. Moreover, both job satisfaction and affective commitment mediate path leading from work to family facilitation and self-rated job performance such that job satisfaction precedes affective commitment in the causal chain. Hence by devising family-friendly HR policies, effective job designs and fostering environment that is family supportive will result in enhanced employee performance. Similarly hiring employees with resourceful psychological traits or interventions to enhance resourceful psychological states can result in greater perception of work to family facilitation. Discussion and implications are followed by future research directions.


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