TY - JOUR
T1 - Menstrual health education in Australian schools
AU - Curry, Christina
AU - Ferfolja, Tania
AU - Holmes, Kathryn
AU - Parry, Kelly
AU - Sherry, M.
AU - Armour, Mike
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Menstrual health literacy has a direct impact on young peoples’ quality of life, health, academic and professional performance. In Australia, the key learning area of Health and Physical Education [HPE] provides opportunities for students to develop menstrual health literacy. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of 5007 young Australian women aged 13–25 on their experiences of menstruation, dysmenorrhea and education. The discussion herein relates to the qualitative component that asked the question ‘What was the most useful information about menstruation received in HPE [Health and Physical Education] class?’ Applying a thematic analysis to the data, three key themes emerged. These include: (a) it’s all just biology; (b) the cause but not the effect, and; (c) too little, too late. The findings suggest limitations in educational approaches taken by teachers potentially resulting in poor menstrual health literacy portending long-term negative health consequences for some individuals.
AB - Menstrual health literacy has a direct impact on young peoples’ quality of life, health, academic and professional performance. In Australia, the key learning area of Health and Physical Education [HPE] provides opportunities for students to develop menstrual health literacy. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of 5007 young Australian women aged 13–25 on their experiences of menstruation, dysmenorrhea and education. The discussion herein relates to the qualitative component that asked the question ‘What was the most useful information about menstruation received in HPE [Health and Physical Education] class?’ Applying a thematic analysis to the data, three key themes emerged. These include: (a) it’s all just biology; (b) the cause but not the effect, and; (c) too little, too late. The findings suggest limitations in educational approaches taken by teachers potentially resulting in poor menstrual health literacy portending long-term negative health consequences for some individuals.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:65721
U2 - 10.1080/25742981.2022.2060119
DO - 10.1080/25742981.2022.2060119
M3 - Article
SN - 2574-2981
VL - 14
SP - 223
EP - 236
JO - Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education
JF - Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education
IS - 2
ER -