A multimedia psychosocial support program for couples receiving infertility treatment: a feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Psychosocial Support
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Infertility affects a significant number of couples, often necessitating psychosocial support.
• Existing support services may have limited accessibility due to geographical or logistical barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess the feasibility of a theory-driven, psychosocial support CD-ROM prototype for couples undergoing infertility treatment.
• To evaluate the usability and acceptance of the developed CD-ROM.

Main Methods:

• Focus groups with reproductive health experts and interviews with 62 infertility patients informed CD-ROM content.
• Content analysis of an infertility message board was conducted.
• Usability and acceptance testing of the prototype CD-ROM was performed with 12 patients and 12 experts.

Main Results:

• A prototype patient education CD-ROM was developed, incorporating audio, video, interactive tasks, and personalized feedback.
• Over 80% of participants successfully completed usability tasks, with over 90% rating prototype satisfaction as "good" to "excellent."
• Participant feedback indicated a strong interest in such a multimedia support tool, with suggestions for navigational and instructional improvements.

Conclusions:

• Multimedia interventions, such as the developed CD-ROM, show promise as effective and innovative psychosocial support for infertility patients.
• This approach can potentially overcome barriers to accessing educational and support services, enhancing patient care.