Introduction of Problem
The focus is on menstrual education for pre-teen females and their caregivers, focusing on education for male caregivers. Male caregivers and boys have limited knowledge of the menstrual cycle for women and the associated challenges that they may experience. Parents, especially men, face challenges discussing with their children about the body changes and natural biological processes that come with puberty. The community health teaching plan aims to help address the challenges. The aim is to provide an informative and engaging educational experience that aligns with the Healthy People 2030 goal of increasing the proportion of children and adolescents who communicate positively with their parents. Positive communication between parents and their children promotes healthy relationships that help prevent possible health risks such as psychological distress. There is a need to begin breaking down some of the barriers related to the menstrual cycle to help improve the physical and psychological well-being of young women and their caregivers. The lack of menstrual education may result in girls being misinformed and ashamed about a normal and natural process.
Theoretical Framework
Social learning theory will help guide the community health education plan.Albert Bandura introduced the theory as an alternative to B.F. Skinner’s earlier work has three key concepts. The first concept is that people can learn through observation, the second concept holds that the internal mental states are essential parts of the learning process, and the third cannot hold that learning does not necessarily lead to a behavior change (Dollard & Miller, 2013). According to the theory, people cannot solely learn from the experiences of their actions, but they can do so by observing and learning new information and behavior. The education plan aims to help pre-teen females and their caregivers, especially men, learn and understand the dynamics of menstruation and improve positive communication (Dollard & Miller, 2013). Teaching aids will be used throughout the teaching activity, which will take place at the community park. Using role modeling during the community teaching exercise will help the pre-teen girls and their caregivers understand the different ways of communication around the issue of the menstrual cycle and the physical and psychological needs associated with menstruation. According to the social learning theory, people learn and understand better when a real person acts or demonstrates a behavior or when verbal instructions help describe and explain behavior (Dollard & Miller, 2013). The theory guides the adoption of verbal explanations, modeling, and other teaching aids throughout the community health teaching activity on menstruation for pre-teen females and their caregivers. For example, role-modeling communication on menstruation between a pre-teen child and a parent will help make the teaching points clear and well-understood by the community. Showcasing different types of sanitary towels and menstruation images will help promote easy understanding in line with the education goal (Dollard & Miller, 2013).
Social Determinate of Health
The community health teaching plan on menstruation for pre-teen females and their caregivers is guided by the social determinants of health. They include economic stability, education access, healthcare access, social and community. These are the conditions in places where people are born, live, work, and play (Healthy People 2030, 2024).
Economic stability as a social determinant of health holds that people with steady sources of income are more likely to afford the basic needs related to menstruation. At the same time, those living in poverty may be unable to afford sanitary towels or any medical intervention related to menstruation (Healthy People 2030, 2024). It is vital to understand the affordability of sanitary towels in the community targeted for the education activity to focus on solutions that apply to the challenges faced by pre-teen girls from poor backgrounds and wealthy families.
Education access as a social determinant of health determines people’s and caregivers’ decisions on health and issues such as menstrual education for pre-teen girls. Caregivers with higher levels of education are more likely to understand the teaching areas regarding menstruation for pre-teens, unlike caregivers with lower levels of education (Healthy People 2030, 2024). The teaching plan will focus on ensuring that the concepts and models used in community health teaching apply to all, regardless of the level of education, to help promote behavior change.
Healthcare access as a social determinant of health impacts the educational activity planned for the community (Healthy People 2030, 2024). The community health teaching will emphasize access to healthcare professionals if challenges related to menstruation for pre-teen girls are beyond the scope of the caregiver. The community education plan will involve a section where caregivers will be taught the connection between the menstrual cycle and healthy living.
The social and community determinants of health are applicable in community health teaching in helping to understand the challenges pre-teen girls face in the community leading to social discrimination and the different ways to address such issues for caregivers (Healthy People 2030, 2024). The teaching plan focuses on such issues to help pre-teen girls and caregivers, especially men, overcome the discrimination associated with menstruation.
Evidence-Based Resources
According to Evans et al. (2022), young girls are ill-prepared for menstruation. It is thus an essential teaching area in community health education, considering it is an emerging area of health research (Evans et al., 2022). The community health teaching areas will include hygiene; according to Evans et al. (2022), most reproductive tract infections are associated with the challenges of hygienically managing menstruation due to a lack of resources and information. The study by Evans et al. (2022) states that education intervention on menstruation should include flip charts, question and answer sessions, and forms of didactic teachings for effective intervention through education on the challenges associated with menstruation for the pre-teens and the caregivers. Menstrual education underpins all desirable outcomes for pre-teens and their caregivers (Evans et al., 2022).
Long et al. (2022) state that menstrual health and intervention are gaining more prominence as a research topic and as a program intervention. It is thus an essential area in community health teaching. Girls consistently face struggles on how to manage their menstruation while in school. It is thus essential to have a community education plan on pre-teen girls’ menstruation. According to Long et al. (2022), there is a need to increase knowledge among people, especially pre-teen girls, on the physical, emotional, and social changes that come with adolescence and menstruation (Long et al., 2022). As stated by Long et al. (2022), these critical areas of focus are the teaching areas on menstrual education for pre-teen females and their caregivers with a specific focus on men.
Summary of Health Teaching Plan
According to Health People 2030, positive relationships help reduce the negative impact of health challenges on people. There is a need to increase social and community support and health teaching plans to offer support on menstrual issues facing pre-teen girls (Healthy People 2030, 2024). Speakers will plan to learn areas and lessons that help promote understanding and improved information on menstruation for pre-teen girls. Health People 2030, under social and community determinants of health stages, the inability to afford basic things could lead to poor health.
References
Dollard, J., & Miller, N. E. (2013). Social learning and imitation. Routledge.
Evans, R. L., Harris, B., Onuegbu, C., & Griffiths, F. (2022). A systematic review of educational interventions to improve the menstrual health of young adolescent girls. BMJ open, 12(6), e057204. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057204
Healthy People 2030 (2024). https://health.gov/healthypeople
Levine, R. L. (2021). Healthy People 2030: A beacon for addressing health disparities and health equity. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 27(6), S220.
Long, J. L., Haver, J., Mendoza, P., & Vargas Kotasek, S. M. (2022). The More You Know, the Less You Stress: Menstrual Health Literacy in Schools Reduces Menstruation-Related Stress and Increases Self-Efficacy for Very Young Adolescent Girls in Mexico. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 3, 859797. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.859797
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