USING A PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION APPROACH TO DEVELOP A DVD HEALTH EDUCATION RESOURCE FOR VIETNAMESE WOMEN IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

This paper has two purposes. The first is to describe the process used to develop a DVD health education resource by using the participatory communication approach. The second is to present the results of the formative evaluation of this DVD by measuring the self efficacy and self confidence after the DVD viewing.

In Australia Vietnamese women have a high risk of developing gestational diabetes (GDM) compared to Caucasian and other Asian women. However, there are limited health education resources which are socially, linguistically and culturally appropriate to this women group. We develop a DVD health education resource by using the participatory communication approach by having significant input from eight Vietnamese women who had the GDM. This DVD will assist women to identify practical ways to control and manage their blood sugar. The change of lifestyles including diet, exercise and rest are major components of the content. We also expect that the information will help increase their health literacy relating to GDM. More than 40 hours of video footage have been edited and comments from health professionals are made to ensure the content credibility.
A formal formative evaluation is conducted among 40 Vietnamese women who have GDM. They are invited to view the DVD and responded to a structured questionnaire in order to assess their self efficacy and self confidence in managing their blood sugar. Descriptive results will be presented and the implications of this project on adult learning and health literacy will be outlined.