Effectiveness and Benefit of Two Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Delivery Methods for Military Women

Abstract

Sexually transmitted infections (STI) are at pandemic proportions among young women, and STI rates are seven times higher in military personnel than civilians. To meet the need for a fit and ready force our research team designed the Strong Women Stay Safe (SWSS) Kit that includes a Sexual Health Self-Assessment and a Sexual Health Information Guide. The Kit is an innovative, self-administered, theoretically- and empirically-based decisional support system that provides women with the information and skills they need to negotiate safer sex during sexual encounters. Specific Aims. 1) Create a web-based version of the SWSS Kit to include a SWSS Virtual Date game. 2) Evaluate the effectiveness and benefit of paper and web-based versions of the SWSS Kit on military women's use of safer sex behaviors and exposure to STIs over a 6-month period. 3) Validate the theoretical consistency of the electronic SWSS Kit through analysis of meta-data from the web-based application. Design Aim 1. A multidisciplinary collaboration among Nursing, Fine Arts (digital animation and interactive media), and Computer Science was required to convert the SWSS Kit to a web-based interactive platform, and develop the SWSS Virtual Date Game. Procedure. An iterative design and evaluation process involved: 1) usability testing of the paper prototype; 2) production of a web prototype via programming, interface, and interaction design; 3) focus group testing and evaluation; and beta-testing. Results. The paper and web-based SWSS Kits are ready for implementation, however, Aims 2 and 3 were not completed during the study time-frame.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 22, 2016
Accession Number
AD1020986

Entities

People

  • Nancy A. Ryan-wenger

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
  • Beta Testing
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Education
  • Health Services
  • Infection
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Knowledge Management
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Personnel
  • Models
  • Prototypes
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Wound Infections

Readers

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Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics