eBug intervention development

Role: Lead

Funder: Health Protection Agency (now UK Health Security Agency) and Coventry University Knowledge Transfer Enterprise Grant (KTEG)

Dates: 2010-2011

Background

Secondary school teachers lack high-quality 'off-the-shelf' resources to teach Sex and Relationships Education (SRE). e-bug is European project led by the UK Health Security Agency which aims to provide teaching resources for secondary school pupils on microbes, including the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (see e-bug website). We worked with the e-bug team to develop a teaching resource on Chlamydia which had been identified as an unmet need within the e-bug portal. A key focus of the resource was to challenge secondary school pupils' beliefs about the seriousness of Chlamydia and their susceptibility to it.

What did we do?

The programme was developed using Intervention Mapping, a framework for developing interventions grounded in evidence and the needs of the target audience. Methods included a literature review (to identify young people's knowledge and beliefs about the risk of infection); a review of existing teaching materials and young people’s preferences for content and delivery of RSE; and two focus groups with secondary school pupils (n=12; nine female and three male) aged 13-14 years and interviews with SRE teachers (n=2), to ascertain their preferences for content and delivery of the proposed intervention. A steering group consisting of key stakeholders (including pupils, teachers, health communication design experts, sexual health promotion experts, microbiologists, digital media expert, youth worker) guided and advised on the project.

What did we develop

The intervention, which aims to change chlamydia risk and efficacy appraisals, is embedded within a single e-bug lesson. Materials produce include a detailed lesson plan and associated resources including, Ground Rules (which teachers and pupils are encouraged to agree prior to the lesson; available as pupil handout and PowerPoint slide), Pants animation (a short presentation to demonstrate, and to encourage pupils to personalise, the prevalence of chlamydia amongst young people), If Chlamydia Could Talk handout (gives a voice to chlamydia bacteria, describing the journey from transmission to infection), Chlamydia The Movie (an animation showing the female reproductive tract which visually describes the physiological process by which chlamydia infection takes hold and causes long-term health consequences), Jeopardy interactive resource (shows the ease with which chlamydia passes through a sexual network).

Impact

The lesson plan was made available on the e-bug website between 2012 to 2018.

Publications

Newby, K, Wallace, LM & French, D. (2012). How do young adults perceive the risk of chlamydia infection? A qualitative study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 17, 144-154. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2011.02027.

Newby, K., Wallace, L.M., Dunn, O., & Brown, K.E. (2012). A survey of English teens’ sexual experience and preferences for school based sex education. Sex Education, 12, 2, 231-251. Doi:10.1080/14681811.2011.615582.

Joshi, P, Newby, K., Lecky, D.M., & McNulty, C.A.M. (2013). Development of a theory and evidence-based sex education intervention on Chlamydia for secondary school students. Health Psychology Update, 22:2.