[Barrier contraceptives and the IUD: educational technology for the visually impaired]

Family planning is fundamental for the appropriate structuring of the family. This offers knowledge to decide on the number of children, and the most adequate moment to have them. The current health information being advertised is based on visual communication. This fact hinders the access of visually impaired people to such important knowledge. The present study has as objectives the creation of self-instructional educational material concerning mechanical contraceptive methods and IUD, as well as its evaluation. The research was divided in two methodological parts. In the first part, methods that explored the senses of hearing and touch were elaborated. In the second part, these methods were tested by a sight impaired couple. The data for the evaluation was obtained through interviews. Results show that the use of appropriate content and language facilitate the understanding of the contraceptive methods by these people. Verbal and tactile communication was favored and contributed on the reconstruction of citizenship for the visually impaired.