The Health Literacy in Pregnancy (HeLP) Program Study Protocol: Development of an Antenatal Care Intervention Using the Ophelia Process

Maiken Meldgaard, Rikke Damkjær Maimburg, Maiken Fabricius Damm, Anna Aaby, Anna Peeters and Helle Terkildsen Maindal
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Maiken Meldgaard: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Rikke Damkjær Maimburg: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aarhus University Hospital, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Maiken Fabricius Damm: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aarhus University Hospital, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Anna Aaby: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Anna Peeters: Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Helle Terkildsen Maindal: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: A pregnant woman needs adequate knowledge, motivation, and skills to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information to make decisions related to the health of herself and her unborn baby. These skills are defined as health literacy: an important factor in relation to the woman’s ability to engage and navigate antenatal care services. Evidence shows variation in levels of health literacy among pregnant women, but more knowledge is needed about how to respond to different health literacy profiles in antenatal care. This paper describes the development protocol for the HeLP program, which aims to investigate pregnant women’s health literacy and co-create health literacy interventions through a broad collaboration between pregnant women, partners, healthcare providers, professionals, and other stakeholders using the Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) process. The HeLP program will be provided at two hospitals, which provide maternity care including antenatal care: a tertiary referral hospital (Aarhus University Hospital) and a secondary hospital (the Regional Hospital in Viborg). The Ophelia process includes three process phases with separate objectives, steps, and activities leading to the identification of local strengths, needs and issues, co-design of interventions, and implementation, evaluation, and ongoing improvement. No health literacy intervention using the Ophelia process has yet been developed for antenatal care.

Keywords: health literacy; inequality; intervention development; health literacy responsiveness; organizational health literacy; co-design; pregnancy; health promotion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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