Black Fertility Matters Too: community-centered seminars improve fertility knowledge

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Health Disparities
• Community Health Education

Background:

• Black individuals exhibit lower fertility knowledge compared to White individuals.
• Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for reproductive health equity.
• Community-centered approaches may be effective in improving health literacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the Black Fertility Matters Too tour, a community-centered fertility education seminar, on enhancing fertility knowledge within the Black community.
• To evaluate improvements in basic fertility knowledge, infertility awareness, and access to care.

Main Methods:

• A pretest-posttest study design was employed.
• Participants were individuals self-identifying as Black who attended the fertility seminar.
• The Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale (CFKS) was used to measure knowledge improvement before and after the seminar.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in mean CFKS scores from 66.0% preseminar to 77.5% postseminar was observed.
• Knowledge regarding infertility definition, prevalence, ovarian function, aging, and STI impact on fertility improved significantly.
• Follow-up surveys indicated seminars were helpful, with some participants motivated to seek fertility care.

Conclusions:

• Community-based fertility education seminars can effectively enhance fertility knowledge in the Black community.
• These seminars may serve as a catalyst for individuals to seek fertility care.
• Further research is needed to standardize interventions and address systemic barriers to fertility care.