Assessing an Educational Intervention Program on Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour Towards Pregnancy Prevention Based on Health Belief Model Amongst Adolescent Girls in Northern Ghana
Assessing an Educational Intervention Program on Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour Towards Pregnancy Prevention Based on Health Belief Model Amongst Adolescent Girls in Northern Ghana
The study is designed to assess the impact of an educational intervention program on the
 knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards pregnancy prevention based on Health Belief Model
 amongst adolescent girls in Northern Ghana. It is a randomised clustered controlled trial to
 be conducted on Senior High School students in Northern Ghana The study hypothesises that
 knowledge, attitude and behaviour of adolescents towards pregnancy prevention will differ
 between the groups.
Adolescent pregnancy is a global problem because of its health, social, economic and
 political repercussions on the globe. According to WHO about 16 million girls aged 15 to 19
 and some 1 million girls under 15years give birth every year, mostly in low and middle-income
 countries. Babies born to adolescent mothers face a substantially higher risk of dying than
 those born to women aged 20 to 24. Pregnant adolescents also develop psychological problems
 from social stigma, suffering physical and domestic violence in her attempt to meeting the
 demands of pregnancy and childbearing. Children born to adolescents are at risk of
 malnutrition, low mental and physical development, inappropriate social connection with
 parents and poor education.

 The factors associated with adolescent pregnancies include early marriages, poor social and
 economic support. Curiosity and peer pressure, lack of sexuality education, poor reproductive
 health services and poor attitude of health workers to providing contraceptive services for
 adolescents amongst others.

 Ghana developed a number of policies to improve adolescent development through the provision
 of youth focus friendly health services in the country. However, adolescent pregnancy has not
 declined as expected.

 The Health Belief Model is one of the appropriate health promotion models designed to predict
 preventive health behaviours, and it has enhanced preventive health behaviours in breast
 cancer screening and prevention of risky sexual behaviours in adolescents as well as
 prevention of iron deficiency anaemia. Schools are the best site for providing health
 education and promotion interventions because students spend most of the time in school and
 health promoters have the opportunity of reaching a large number of participants. Students of
 Senior High Schools in Ghana are adolescents and most of them are sexually active and has
 little knowledge about sex education and use of contraceptives. Therefore, providing
 comprehensive sex education to adolescents in schools will increase their knowledge; enhance
 their attitude and behavior towards pregnancy prevention.

 This study, therefore, is intended to assess the impact of an educational intervention
 program on the knowledge, attitude and behavior towards pregnancy prevention based on Health
 Belief Model amongst adolescent girls in Northern Ghana.

 The main objective is to assess the impact of an educational intervention program on
 knowledge, attitude and behavior towards pregnancy prevention based on Health Belief Model
 amongst adolescent girls in Northern Ghana.

 Study design: The study shall be an interventional research using Clustered Randomized
 Controlled Trial to assess the impact of an educational program on the knowledge, attitude
 and behavior of adolescents towards teenage pregnancy using a researcher-structured
 questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model and a validated psychometric "Teen Attitude
 Pregnancy Scale" Intervention: A comprehensive sex education program shall be delivered in
 approximately six (6) sessions comprising of an introductory lesson on susceptibility and
 severity of teenage pregnancy, personal and community values, female reproductive system,
 contraceptives and decision-making. A qualified midwife shall conduct the health education
 program. Teaching and learning materials shall include flip charts, contraceptives, short
 videos, role-play scenarios among others. A practical demonstration, group discussion,
 lectures, role-play and interactive learning methods shall be employed. Attitudinal and
 behavioural intervention strategies shall be adopted for the study based on the Taxonomy of
 Behavior Change Techniques for interventions
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Only unmarried adolescent female high school students shall be included in the study.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Girls who do not want to participate and those who do not fall within the adolescent
 age group as well as married adolescents shall be excluded