The effect of peer education initiatives on reproductive health in rural areas

The aim of this study was to determine knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of women living in rural areas about protecting reproductive health, to develop an education model in accordance with the problems singled out and in line with peer education principles and to evaluate the effectiveness of this model. In this study, descriptive and cross-sectional research design was used in the part which determines reproductive health profile of the women and quasi-experimental research design was used in the part which evaluates the reproductive health peer education initiative. The study was conducted in a health house placed in rural area between June 1st and December 15th 2013. Sample selection was not made in the research. Instead, the study included a total of 117 married women aged 15-49 who were living in the village at the time of the study and who met the eligibility criteria. Data were collected through a Questionnaire Relating to the Descriptive Characteristics of Women and The Scale for Determining the Reproductive Health Preventive Attitudes of Married Women to evaluate the participants' knowledge attitudes and behaviours about reproductive health. The women filled out these tools after their informed consent was received. Obtained data were analysed by using SPSS. In the analysis of data frequency distribution, mean, in the dependent groups, chi-square test (McNemar Test) and Paired Samples t test and Wilconson test were used. In the research, 38.5% of the women were 39-49 years old and 77.8% were primary school graduates and 63.2% lived in an extended family environment. Although contraception was of high rate, withdrawal was the most widely used method. When the efficacy of the health education programme for women was evaluated, it was found that the programme was successful in general; the difference before and three months after education for Women Health Knowledge Test, Total Scale Point and subscale points of 'Preventing Genital Infections', 'Visiting Doctor In Reproductive Health Related Issues', 'Preventing Reproductive System and Breast Cancers', 'General Health Behaviours for Preventing Reproductive Health' were statistically significant (p=0.000). However, there wasn't a significant difference about the subscale "Preventing Unwanted Pregnancies". As a result, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of women living in rural areas about protection of reproductive health were inadequate and it can be suggested that "Reproductive Health Peer Education Model" implemented in the rural areas between the ages 15-49 was an effective method for developing protective reproductive health behaviour