Action 5: Community Educational Programmes

bt3-action5

5. Identify Health Care Providers to develop community educational programmes: HCPs should be trained to educate the community regarding prevention and treatment of infertility. The interconnection between infertility and sexual as well as general health should be emphasized.

In order to overcome some of the barriers described previously, there are three activities to be undertaken at the PHC level.

Healthcare providers, such as nurses and midwives, should be motivated and eventually trained to develop workshops and community programs oriented towards the prevention of reproductive health problems, including the prevention and treatment of infertility. Social factors, such as local cultural/religious beliefs and social attitudes, can influence fertility as well as other reproductive health diseases and should be identified and discussed with the public. The community should also be educated on the negative effect of age and duration of infertility on prognosis.

Educational curricula for the prevention of infertility should be accompanied with education in other areas of reproductive health such as fertility regulation, STIs, the prevention of cancer and the impact of good reproductive health on the quality of life.

Ideally, the PHC facility should become the place where the community meets, where women can discuss their problems and where health education is provided. It is essential to identify community leaders to work hand-in-hand with the nurse/midwife so that together they can attract consumers to the PHC facility. (Zegers-Hochschild, 2011)