Strategies for Utilising Technology to Improve Reproductive Health Knowledge among Adolescents: A Scoping Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26911/Abstract
Background: Adolescents are a vulnerable age group when it comes to reproductive health issues due to their lack of knowledge and limited access to accurate and comprehensive information. With the rapid development of digital technology, adolescents are increasingly active in using social media, applications, and the internet to search for information, including information related to reproductive health. This study aims to explore scientific evidence on strategies for leveraging technology to enhance reproductive health knowledge among adolescents.
Subject and Method: A scoping review approach was employed, following the Arksey & O’Malley framework, which includes the following steps: identifying research questions, identifying relevant articles, selecting articles, mapping data, compiling data, summarising, and reporting results. The search strategy used Boolean operators and MeSH with keywords: (“Strategy” OR “Digital Intervention”) AND (“Reproductive Health”) AND (“Adolescent” OR “Teenager”) AND (“Sexual Health Knowledge”). This review identified 881 articles that were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria found using databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, and grey literature from relevant websites from Taylor & Francis, Google Scholar, and Research Rabbit, resulting in 12 articles.
Results: The synthesis results grouped technology utilisation strategies into three main themes: (1) digital innovations such as social media, interactive applications, and SMS, which play an effective role in increasing adolescents' knowledge; (2) supportive social roles, such as the involvement of parents, teachers, and peers as facilitators of educational technology utilisation; and (3) structural and social barriers such as limited access, cultural norms, and low family involvement, which hinder the delivery of reproductive health information.
Conclusion: The use of digital technology has proven to be a relevant and effective strategy in improving reproductive health knowledge among adolescents, especially when supported by the active role of families, educational institutions, and the social environment to ensure its effectiveness in shaping healthy behaviour among adolescents in the digital age.
Keywords:
reproductive health, adolescent, health education, sexual health knowledgeHow to Cite
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