The edutainment program on knowledge, perception, and uptake of cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in Southern Thailand: a quasi experimental study.

INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer is a significant global health concern and is the third most common cancer in women. Owing to their religious beliefs, Muslim women in Thailand are less likely to be screened for cervical cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore how a Health Belief Model (HBM) (HBM = Health Belief Model)-Based Edutainment Program affects the knowledge, perception, and uptake of cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in Thailand. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in two rural districts of Southern Thailand with 83 Muslim women (intervention = 42, control = 41). The assessment was conducted through face-to-face interviews at baseline, post-intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. The intervention included four sessions involving video clips, folk songs, and short films. Data analysis was performed using repeated-measures ANOVA (ANOVA = Analysis of Variance) at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the mean score of knowledge and perception between the intervention and control groups post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001). The mean scores of knowledge and perception in the intervention group significantly increased post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001). The uptake of cervical cancer screening tests in the intervention group was approximately twice as high as that in the control group (90.47% vs. 51.21%). CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that the Edutainment Program could improve the knowledge, perception, and uptake of cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in Thailand. In future studies, the intervention suggests testing different population groups to improve access to primary care for everyone.

Physiology quiz competition: the game of education or entertainment?

Questioning is an important activity in teaching. In medical colleges, on-stage quiz competitions are appreciated by students as well as faculty as they are an engaging way to connect with the discipline. We organized the Physiology Quiz Competition to assess the concepts of functional mechanisms of various organ systems. It was an academic tool for teaching and learning for 200 first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) course students. It was conducted in four rounds: multiple choice question-based round 1 (R1), explanatory-type round 2 (R2), rapid-fire round 3 (R3), and image-based round 4 (R4). The postquiz feedback questionnaire included 23 total questions; 10 questions used a 5-point Likert scale, another 10 questions had dichotomous options, and the remaining 3 questions were used to collect general information about all rounds. Data were collected and analyzed. The outcome of academic learning was reported by 26% of students regarding R1, 30.5% regarding R2, 18.5% regarding R3, and 25% regarding R4 round. R4 and R3 were reported by 44.5% and 23% of students and R2 and R1 by 16% of students as a source of entertainment. A total of 67% of students found the quiz to be an excellent teaching and learning method. All students endorsed the quiz as innovative and interesting. In conclusion, the Physiology Quiz Competition can be used for edutainment as an innovative teaching and learning method, especially for first-year medical students.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The Physiology Quiz Competition is a method of teaching and learning that provides education with entertainment in a medical college. It increases students' interest in the subject of Physiology and helps them to understand and learn the subject effectively.

Movies, stigma and choice: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry.

Do movies reduce stigma, increasing healthcare product choices offered by firms? We provide causal evidence on this question in the context of Indian pharmaceutical markets. For unpacking these effects, we use an exogenous shock to the market due to the release of a Bollywood blockbuster movie - My Name is Khan (MNIK) where the protagonist, superstar Shahrukh Khan, suffers from Asperger's Syndrome (AS). Using a difference-in-differences design, we find a positive and statistically significant effect of MNIK (between 14% and 22% increase in variety sold and prescribed) on product differentiation and choices in the market for antipsychotic medicines used to clinically treat AS. Results are consistent using alternative controls, a placebo treatment-based test and with a variety of other robustness checks. Our findings document likely for the first-time, supply side responses to edutainment and suggests potential associated welfare effects in healthcare markets characterized by sticky demand. Implications for global health and public policy given worldwide concerns around a mental wellness epidemic with Covid-19 are discussed.

Fighting Violent Extremism With Narrative Intervention: Evidence From a Field Experiment in West Africa.

Violent extremism is one of the major challenges of our time. A cluster-randomized controlled trial with two arms (treatment vs. control) conducted in 132 villages in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso (N = 2,904 participants) examined whether a narrative intervention in the format of a radio drama can shift behavioral intentions, beliefs, and attitudes in contexts of violent extremism. Individuals in intervention villages participated in weekly listening sessions to the radio drama (6 months' content) over 12 weeks. Compared with the control condition, the narrative intervention reduced justification of violence, increased behavioral intentions to collaborate with the police, and increased prioritization of addressing violent extremism. The intervention did not influence beliefs about or attitudes toward the police (e.g., trust, fairness) or beliefs about police-community collaboration. Content analysis of the narrative intervention and participants' reception and discussion of the intervention provide insights on the processes driving the intervention's influence.

A community edutainment intervention for gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and maternal and child health in rural Senegal: a process evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Edutainment aims to spread educational messages in an entertaining way, and often reaches large audiences. While studies increasingly report the impacts of edutainment interventions, there is limited context-specific evidence on the underlying processes and barriers to effective delivery, especially in rural areas. This article presents results from a process evaluation of a community-based edutainment intervention designed to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices on gender-based violence (GBV), sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and maternal and child health. The intervention focused on the television series, C'est la Vie!, screened through biweekly film clubs in rural Senegal and included post-screening discussions and thematic workshops, meant to reinforce messages, increase knowledge, and change social norms. The objectives of this study were to assess intervention adaptation, implementation fidelity, participants' responsiveness or engagement, and series appropriateness. METHODS: The intervention was implemented from December 2019 to March 2020 in 120 villages in Kaolack and Kolda regions of Senegal, and targeted adolescent girls and young women aged 14 to 34. The process evaluation was carried out in March 2020 in 14 villages using: i) individual semi-structured interviews with implementers (n = 3), village chiefs (n = 8), married women (n = 9), adolescent girls (n = 8), and men (n = 8); ii) focus groups with men (n = 7, 29 participants) and women (n = 10, 100 participants); and iii) observations of screening sessions (n = 4) and post-screening discussions (n = 2). Data were analyzed using thematic and content analysis. RESULTS: The results highlight that adaptation of the intervention helped reach the target population and improved participant attendance, but might have compromised fidelity to original design, as intervention components were shortened and modified for rural delivery and some facilitators made ad hoc modifications. The screenings coverage and frequency were adequate; however, their duration was shortened due to COVID-19 restrictions in Senegal. Participant responsiveness was excellent, as was the series appropriateness for most topics, including GBV. SRH remains a sensitive topic for youth, especially when the film clubs included non-peers, such as slightly older women. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that using film clubs to deliver sensitive edutainment content in rural areas is feasible and has potential for scale-up.

Noise-Robust Multimodal Audio-Visual Speech Recognition System for Speech-Based Interaction Applications.

Speech is a commonly used interaction-recognition technique in edutainment-based systems and is a key technology for smooth educational learning and user-system interaction. However, its application to real environments is limited owing to the various noise disruptions in real environments. In this study, an audio and visual information-based multimode interaction system is proposed that enables virtual aquarium systems that use speech to interact to be robust to ambient noise. For audio-based speech recognition, a list of words recognized by a speech API is expressed as word vectors using a pretrained model. Meanwhile, vision-based speech recognition uses a composite end-to-end deep neural network. Subsequently, the vectors derived from the API and vision are classified after concatenation. The signal-to-noise ratio of the proposed system was determined based on data from four types of noise environments. Furthermore, it was tested for accuracy and efficiency against existing single-mode strategies for extracting visual features and audio speech recognition. Its average recognition rate was 91.42% when only speech was used, and improved by 6.7% to 98.12% when audio and visual information were combined. This method can be helpful in various real-world settings where speech recognition is regularly utilized, such as cafés, museums, music halls, and kiosks.

Methodology for the Development of Augmented Reality Applications: MeDARA. Drone Flight Case Study.

Industry 4.0 involves various areas of engineering such as advanced robotics, Internet of Things, simulation, and augmented reality, which are focused on the development of smart factories. The present work presents the design and application of the methodology for the development of augmented reality applications (MeDARA) using a concrete, pictorial, and abstract approach with the intention of promoting the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the students within the conceptual framework of educational mechatronics (EMCF). The flight of a drone is presented as a case study, where the concrete level involves the manipulation of the drone in a simulation; the graphic level requires the elaboration of an experiential storyboard that shows the scenes of the student's interaction with the drone in the concrete level; and finally, the abstract level involves the planning of user stories and acceptance criteria, the computer design of the drone, the mock-ups of the application, the coding in Unity and Android Studio, and its integration to perform unit and acceptance tests. Finally, evidence of the tests is shown to demonstrate the results of the application of the MeDARA.

Preventing sexual violence in college men: a randomized-controlled trial of GlobalConsent.

BACKGROUND: Sexual violence-any sexual act committed against a person without freely given consent-disproportionately affects women. Women's first experiences of sexual violence often occur in adolescence. In Asia and the Pacific, 14% of sexually experienced adolescent girls report forced sexual debut. Early prevention with men that integrates a bystander framework is one way to address attitudes and behavior while reducing potential resistance to participation. METHODS: This paper describes a study protocol to adapt RealConsent for use in Vietnam and to test the impact of the adapted program-GlobalConsent-on cognitive/attitudinal/affective mediators, and in turn, on sexual violence perpetration and prosocial bystander behavior. RealConsent is a six-session, web-based educational entertainment program designed to prevent sexual violence perpetration and to enhance prosocial bystander behavior in young men. The program has reduced the incidence of sexual violence among men attending an urban, public university in the Southeastern United States. We used formative qualitative research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Map of the Adaptation Process to adapt RealConsent. We conducted semi-structured interviews with college men (n = 12) and women (n = 9) to understand the social context of sexual violence. We conducted focus group discussions with university men and stakeholders (n = 14) to elicit feedback on the original program. From these data, we created scripts in storyboard format of the adapted program. We worked closely with a small group of university men to elicit feedback on the storyboards and to refine them for acceptability and production. We are testing the final program-GlobalConsent-in a randomized controlled trial in heterosexual or bisexual freshmen men 18-24 years attending two universities in Hanoi. We are testing the impact of GlobalConsent (n = 400 planned), relative to a health-education attention control condition we developed (n = 400 planned), on cognitive/attitudinal/affective mediators, prosocial bystander behavior, and sexual violence perpetration. DISCUSSION: This project is the first to test the impact of an adapted, theoretically grounded, web-based educational entertainment program to prevent sexual violence perpetration and to promote prosocial bystander behavior among young men in a middle-income country. If effective, GlobalConsent will have exceptional potential to prevent men's sexual violence against women globally. TRIAL REGISTRATION: U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04147455 on November 1, 2019 (Version 1). Retrospectively registered. Protocol amendments will be submitted to clinicaltrials.gov .

Is memorization the name of the game? Undergraduates' perceptions of the usefulness of physiology songs.

The possible benefits of using music to enhance learning of STEM content are numerous, diverse, and largely unproven. We sought to determine which (if any) of these possible benefits are commonly experienced by undergraduate students and are thus especially worthy of further investigation. Four hundred ninety-three students in nine physiology courses at two midsized American universities rated the usefulness of short instructor-penned mathematical physiology songs and explained in their own words why each song would or would not be a useful study aid. The students collectively perceived the usefulness of each song to depend on both academic factors (e.g., the lyrics' clarity or relevance to the course) and aesthetic values (e.g., the appeal of the rhythm or the quality of the singing). Most strikingly, although students' free responses were brief (median length: 18 words in study phase 1, 16 words in study phase 2), nearly one-half of them (1,039 of 2,191) concerned memory, suggesting that many students see educational songs primarily as mnemonic devices. A second major theme of students' comments concerned the conciseness and information density of the songs. Though all 10 songs were brief, lasting 17-54 s, students seemed to prefer shorter songs (perhaps better called "jingles"). This first-of-its-kind data set on student perceptions of educational songs should inform the creation and usage of such songs, as well as further research on their possible value.

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Using Picture Books: The Effect of Book Character and Message Framing.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how a picture book preventing child sexual abuse can improve children's self-protection skills. The study was conducted in China with Chinese children. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, character in the book (human versus animal) and message framing (gain versus loss) were manipulated. Compared to a baseline group who were not exposed to the prevention book, children in the experimental groups significantly enhanced their ability to recognize a potential abuse situation and refuse an inappropriate touch request. Results suggest that the prevention picture books are more effective when using a human character and a gain-framed message. The explanation for this was that human characters simulated children's perceived norm and gain-framed messages increased children's message recall, perceived self-efficacy and positive attitude toward the message, all of which in turn positively affected children's self-protection skills.

Acceptability and challenges of introducing an educational audio-drama about gender violence and HIV prevention into schools in Botswana: an implementation review.

Structural interventions for HIV prevention are typically complex and evaluation should include measurement of implementation. In a trial of a structural intervention for HIV prevention in Botswana we trained teachers to use an audio-drama about gender violence and HIV (BVV). We measured the use of BVV by the trained teachers, and the factors related. In three-day workshops we trained guidance teachers in primary and secondary schools to use the 8-episode BVV audio-drama, that covers gender, gender violence and HIV. One to two years later, two interviewers visited schools and administered an electronic questionnaire to the head teacher and to the BVV-trained teacher. Most teachers (70%, 72/103) had used the BVV materials and reported a positive response from students. Primary school teachers were less likely to have used BVV (adjusted odds ratio (ORa) 0.24, 95% cluster adjusted confidence interval (CIca) 0.07-0.88). Teachers in schools with a working MP3 player were more likely to have used BVV (ORa 3.75, 95% CIca 1.11-12.70). Implementation was much lower in one district (ORa 0.12, 95% CIca 0.04-0.36), related to language constraints. The main difficulty was lack of time, especially in primary schools. These findings could inform rollout of the BVV programme in schools. Abbreviations: BVV: Beyond Victims and Villains audio-drama; CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio.

Promotion of Healthy Humor Cancer Education Messages for the Deaf Community.

The Deaf community members of this community-campus partnership identified the lack of health information in American Sign Language (ASL) as a significant barrier to increasing the Deaf community's health knowledge. Studies have shown that the delivery of health messages in ASL increased Deaf study participants' cancer knowledge. Once health messages are available on the Internet, strategies are needed to attract viewers to the website and to make repeat visits in order to promote widespread knowledge gains. This feasibility study used the entertainment-education strategy of coupling cancer information with jokes in ASL to increase the appeal and impact of the health messages. ASL-delivered cancer control messages coupled with Deaf-friendly jokes were shown to 62 Deaf participants. Participants completed knowledge questionnaires before, immediately after, and 1 week after viewing the paired videos. Participants' health knowledge statistically significantly increased after viewing the paired videos and the gain was retained 1 week later. Participants also reported sharing the newly acquired information with others. Statistically significant results were demonstrated across nearly all measures, including a sustained increase in cancer-information-seeking behavior and intent to improve health habits. Most participants reported that they would be motivated to return to such a website and refer others to it, provided that it was regularly updated with new jokes.

Impact of universal home visits on maternal and infant outcomes in Bauchi state, Nigeria: protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. Access to antenatal care is limited and the quality of services is poor in much of the country. Previous research in Bauchi State found associations between maternal morbidity and domestic violence, heavy work in pregnancy, lack of knowledge about danger signs, and lack of spousal communication about pregnancy and childbirth. This cluster randomized controlled stepped-wedge trial will test the impact of universal home visits to pregnant women and their partners, and the added value of video edutainment. METHODS: The trial will take place in six wards of Toro Local Government Area in Bauchi State, Nigeria, randomly allocated into three waves of two wards each. Home visits will begin in wave 1 wards immediately; in wave 2 wards after one year; and in wave 3 wards after a further year. In each wave, one ward, randomly allocated, will receive video edutainment during the home visits. Female home visitors will contact all households in their catchment areas of about 300 households, register all pregnant women, and visit them every two months during pregnancy, after delivery and one year later. They will use android handsets to collect information on pregnancy progress, send this to a central server, and discuss with the women the evidence about household factors associated with higher maternal risks, using video clips in the edutainment wards. Male home visitors will contact the partners of the pregnant women and discuss with them the same evidence. We will compare outcomes between wave 1 and wave 2 wards at about one year, between wave 2 and wave 3 wards at about two years, and finally between wards with and without added edutainment. Primary outcomes will be complications in pregnancy and delivery, and child health at one year. Secondary outcomes include knowledge and attitudes, use of health services, knowledge of danger signs, and household care of pregnant women. DISCUSSION: Demonstrating an impact of home visits and understanding potential mechanisms could have important implications for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in other settings with poor access to quality antenatal care services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registration number: ISRCTN82954580 . Registry: ISRCTN. Date of registration: 11 August 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Edutainment: A Creative Solution for School-Based Preventive Screening Orientation in Missouri.

School nurses provide routine formal vision and hearing health screenings to school children. However, time available during the school day for nurses to visit elementary classrooms and conduct pre-screening education and orientation is limited. A group of school nurses in Missouri needed an age-appropriate and time-saving method to introduce and orient children to the equipment, materials, and procedures that will be used on screening day. The school nurses collaborated with a health education specialist at a state university to develop two e-learning edutainment programs (one for vision screening and one for hearing screening) following best practices for educational design of e-learning programs. Edutainment is an e-learning technology that mixes education and entertainment using sound, video, and pictures. Edutainment is used to attract student attention through an enjoyable computer-based interaction to encourage focus on lesson content. The edutainment programs developed can be used by students at their own pace on their school-provided or personal devices, and/or the teacher can play the program module to the entire class as a group activity.

"Less Than A Wife": A Study of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Content in Teen and Women's Digital Magazines.

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a major public health problem that affects women's physical and mental health. According to the US National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention, there is a need to improve public awareness of the syndrome among health care providers and the public. Women's magazines are a type of "edutainment" that publish health content in addition to beauty, fashion, and entertainment content. These media have the potential to expose primarily female readers to content on PCOS and influence readers' beliefs and attitudes about women with PCOS. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore how digital (online) teen and women's magazines portray women with PCOS. METHODS: We used data from the Alliance for Audited Media to identify popular digital teen and women's magazines with circulation rates ≥1,000,001. We also included magazines with circulation rates 100,001-1,000,000 directed toward racial and ethnic minority readers. A search of magazine websites over a 1-month period in 2015 yielded 21 magazines (eg, Glamour, Cosmopolitan en Español, Essence, and O, The Oprah Magazine) and 170 articles containing "PCOS" and "polycystic ovary syndrome." Textual analysis using a grounded theory approach was used to identify themes. RESULTS: Articles depicted PCOS symptoms as a hindrance to women's social roles as wives and mothers and largely placed personal responsibility on women to improve their health. To a lesser extent, women were depicted as using their personal experience with PCOS to advocate for women's health. Experiences of Latina and African American women and adolescents with PCOS were absent from women's magazine articles. CONCLUSIONS: The findings can inform health education programs that teach women to be critical consumers of PCOS-related content in digital women's magazines. Future research on PCOS content in digital teen and women's magazines can help researchers, patients, and consumer groups engage with the media to increase public awareness of PCOS.

The use of new technologies for nutritional education in primary schools: a pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was evaluating if the presence of a humanoid robot could improve the efficacy of a game-based, nutritional education intervention. STUDY DESIGN: This was a controlled, school-based pilot intervention carried out on fourth-grade school children (8-10 years old). A total of 112 children underwent a game-based nutritional educational lesson on the importance of carbohydrates. For one group (n = 58), the lesson was carried out by a nutritional educator, the Master of Taste (MT), whereas for another group, (n = 54) the Master of Taste was supported by a humanoid robot (MT + NAO). A third group of children (n = 33) served as control not receiving any lesson. METHODS: The intervention efficacy was evaluated by questionnaires administered at the beginning and at the end of each intervention. The nutritional knowledge level was evaluated by the cultural-nutritional awareness factor (AF) score. RESULTS: A total of 290 questionnaires were analyzed. Both MT and MT + NAO interventions significantly increased nutritional knowledge. At the end of the study, children in the MT and MT + NAO group showed similar AF scores, and the AF scores of both intervention groups were significantly higher than the AF score of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a significant increase in the nutritional knowledge of children involved in a game-based, single-lesson, educational intervention performed by a figure that has a background in food science. However, the presence of a humanoid robot to support this figure's teaching activity did not result in any significant learning improvement.

Giocampus school: a "learning through playing" approach to deliver nutritional education to children.

To improve nutritional knowledge of children, single-group educational interventions with pre/post knowledge assessment were performed in primary schools in Parma, Italy, participating to the Giocampus Program. A total of 8165 children (8-11 years old) of 3rd, 4th and 5th grades of primary school were involved in 3 hours per class nutritional lessons, with specifically designed games and activities for each school grade. To evaluate children learning, a questionnaire was administered before and after three months of educational intervention. A total of 16330 questionnaires were analysed. Children nutritional knowledge significantly increased (p< 0.001) in all school grades. The integrated "learning through playing" approach, including the educational figures, tools and games, was successful in improving children's nutritional knowledge. A stable integration of this method in primary school settings could prepare a new generation of citizens, better educated on health-promotion lifestyles.

The "5 a day" game: a nutritional intervention utilising innovative methodologies with primary school children.

The aim of this study was observing and improving children's eating habits through an edutainment technological platform. A single-group education intervention was carried out in primary schools in Parma and Milano, Italy. A total of 76 children (32 females and 44 males, 8-10 years old) were involved in a 3-month nutritional program including lessons and educational videogames. Intakes of fruits, vegetables, juices and dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured using 3-day food diaries before and after the intervention. The daily total consumption of fruit and vegetables increased from 421.8 (320.3) to 484.3 (337.2) g/day (p = 0.016). Consequently, daily dietary TAC increased by 26%, rising from 1.4 (1.3) to 1.6 (1.3) mmol of Trolox equivalents (p = 0.006). The methods and, particularly, the use of technological tools proved to be effective in conducting an educational intervention in children aged 8-10 years old.

Enhancing the student learning experience through memes.

Meme-making is an effective method for engaging students and enhancing the learning environment. Memes are a social media cultural phenomenon that the majority of those in Higher Education are exposed to on an almost daily occurrence. This research examined the use of meme-making within the forensic sciences to allow students to reflect on their knowledge. Students studying modules in forensic science across six universities in the UK and USA participated in the study. At the end of a teaching session, students produced a meme (using Meme Generator) to reflect on what they had learned; memes were then shared with the class anonymously via Padlet. This allowed all class members to see and engage with the memes created. At the end of the activity students were anonymously surveyed on their experience using Microsoft Forms and analysis of the results were undertaken using SPSS software. Meme-making was found to be an inclusive learning activity with no limitations, including age (part-time, distance learning and visually impaired students were not part of the study parameters). Results showed that not only did students find the practice fun, but it also helped with the retention of the class content suggesting that the meme-making process is an effective way to enhance the learning environment while engaging students. Student feedback suggests that to maximise participation the educator should stress reflection and learning as the key purpose of generating a meme, rather than being witty or entertaining. The forensic science educator should be mindful of selecting appropriate subject matter for this often-humorous activity.