Submission ID 131628
| Issue/Objective | The Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants (CAWI) conducted a needs assessment of immigrant women, girls, and genderqueer young people in accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education in Canada. Informed by participants' previous experiences receiving SRH education and interest in receiving education in their native languages, CAWI developed a culturally-responsive SRH Curriculum and Toolkit, and workshops in various languages based on the first chapter of the Toolkit. This study examines the influence of the workshops on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices around SRH. |
|---|---|
| Methodology/Approach | The study followed a quasi-experimental pre-post design. Four workshops were conducted between April and June 2025: two in English, one in Urdu and one in Ukrainian. Participants included immigrant women and girls residing in Canada with the ability to speak English and one other study language. SRH knowledge, attitudes and practices were assessed using questionnaires administered immediately before the workshop and two weeks post-workshop, and included predefined domains that align with toolkit learning objectives. The questionnaires also examined the role of receiving SRH education in participants' native languages. The primary outcome was overall change in SRH knowledge post-workshop, with impact of language being a secondary, exploratory outcome. |
| Results | 14 participants (median age = 24.5) attended workshops across the three languages (English: n = 9; Urdu: n = 3; Ukrainian: n = 2). Preliminary results show mean SRH knowledge scores increased from 60.6% to 80.1%, and knowledge scores improved across all domains. SRH and Health Equity showed the largest percent change (47.1%), and Social Determinants of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) showed the smallest (31.4%). An increase in self-reported confidence in STI knowledge (28.4%) and accessing SRH services (25%) was also reported. Between-language comparisons were interpreted descriptively, given limited statistical power. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | Preliminary findings suggest that participation in the toolkit-based SRH workshop is associated with short-term improvement in SRH knowledge among immigrant women and girls, contributing early empirical evidence to community-based SRH toolkit implementation. There is a wider need for larger, adequately powered studies to further examine language, culture and retention of SRH learning outcomes in diverse and equity-deserving contexts. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Zara Ahmed Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Harini P Aiyer Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Natasha Rehan Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Radha Maradiya Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Farwa Arshad Schulich School of Business, York University Marianna Kovtun Mount Saint Vincent University Halyna Sobko Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Donel Kadima Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Lina Chair Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Dana Ahmed Carlton University, Department of Health Sciences, Ottawa, Canada Rehma Khan Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants Ksenia Kholina Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University Hani Rukh E Qamar Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants |
