Validation of Health Education Material for Youth: A Step to Ensure Implementation Fidelity in Community-Based Interventions

Abstract

Health education materials such as flipbooks enhance learning and deliver key messages in a captivating mode. Validation of such materials is crucial to ensuring implementation fidelity. We conducted a study to achieve two objectives: (a) to develop two flipbooks, one each for adolescents and young married women (YMW); (b) to validate the flipbooks using five parameters, namely, content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, relevance, and face validity. The study was a part of a community-based peer-led intervention on health, nutrition, and hygiene. The content validity and relevance were assessed by interviewing outreach workers (ORWs, n = 42) using self-administered five-point Likert scale-based tools. A pre- and post-intervention assessment of knowledge among adolescents (n = 100) and YMW (n = 50) across six out of 13 intervention sites was done to evaluate the construct validity. The two flipbooks contained 12 structured sessions with five key messages per session, in addition to illustrations, discussion points, and theme-based stories at the end of each session. The content and relevancy indices were ranked above 80% by ORW. There was a statistically significant increase in the knowledge scores of adolescents (p < 0.001) and YMW (p < 0.001) post intervention. The validation process helps in assessing the relevance and appropriateness of the education content for greater acceptance and responsiveness by the users.