John Reynolds-Wright
Speeches:
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Introduction: Increasing proportions of womenwho access abortion services in Europe choose to have an early medical abortion (EMA) (<= 9 weeks). Provision of quality information on EMA(medications, process, confirmation of success of the procedure and signs/symptoms after the procedurethatnecessitate medical review) is important. However, the quality of information provided to women on EMA may be variable and provider dependent. There is some evidence that audiovisual information (e.g. film or animation) can be an effective way of providing information about abortion. Objective To evaluate an audiovisual animation as a method of information provision on EMA for women seeking EMA in four European countries.
Method: We developed a short animation (3 mins) about EMA that summarises the key steps in theEMA process but is also adapted to reflect subtle differences in EMA practice and law in Scotland, France, Portugal and Sweden. Fifty women choosing EMA in each country (total 200 participants)will be randomisedto information provision on EMA delivered by the animation(n=35) versus a face-to-face consultation with a provider (n=15). Outcomes include information recall on EMA and womens acceptability of provision of information on EMA by the animation.
Results: The study is ongoing. Preliminary data (one country) indicate high levels of acceptability and utility of the animation and comparable levels of information recall to face to face consultations. Free text responses from women indicate that they feel positive about the diversity of female characters depicted in the animation.
Conclusion: Provisional data suggests that even a short audiovisual animation might adequately and acceptably deliver key information about EMA. If shown to be acceptable in the other countries, then this intervention could be used routinely to provide standardised and high quality information to women seeking EMA throughout Europe.