The Effects of a Health Literacy Enhancement Program on Self-Care Knowledge, Perceived Self-Efficacy, and Self-Care Behaviors among Adolescent Pregnant Women at Nong Bua Daeng Hospital, Chaiyaphum Province
Keywords:
Health literacy, Knowledge, Self-care Behaviors, Pregnant AdolescentsAbstract
This one-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the effects of a health literacy enhancement program on self-care knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, and self-care behaviors among pregnant adolescents. The participants, 25 pregnant adolescents, attended the antenatal clinic of Nong Bua Daeng Hospital in Chaiyaphum Province of Thailand. They were purposively selected. The research instruments, in addition to the developed health literacy enhancement program for pregnant adolescents, were three questionnaires: 1) a self-care knowledge questionnaire, 2) a self-care efficacy questionnaire, and 3) a self-care behavior questionnaire. Content validity was verified by three experts, yielding item-objective congruence (IOC) indices of 1.00, .67, and .67, respectively. Reliability coefficients ranged from .79 to .92. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. The findings showed that, after participating in the program:
1. The mean score of self-care knowledge was significantly higher than before participation (t = 19.96, p-value < .001).
2. The mean score of perceived self-care efficacy was significantly higher than before participation (t = 11.81, p-value < .001).
3. The mean score of self-care behaviors was significantly higher than before participation (t = 24.12, p-value < .001).
These results indicate that this health literacy enhancement program effectively promoted self-care behaviors among pregnant adolescents. Therefore, program is suitable for integration into antenatal care services to sustainably enhance maternal and infant health among adolescent pregnant women in Thailand.
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