title: Feasibility of Two Educational Methods for Teaching New Mothers: A Pilot Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Printed health educational materials are commonly issued to prepare patients for hospital discharge. Teaching methods that engage multiple senses have been shown to positively affect learning outcomes, suggesting that paper materials may not be the most effective approach when educating new mothers. In addition, many written patient educational materials do not meet national health literacy guidelines. Videos that stimulate visual and auditory senses provide an alternative, potentially more effective, strategy for delivering health information. The acceptability of these methods, as perceived by nurses executing patient education initiatives, is important for determining the most appropriate strategy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of 2 educational methods for teaching new mothers how to care for themselves and their infants after hospital discharge. Feasibility was measured by adequate enrollment, acceptability of the intervention to patients and nurses, and initial efficacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  New mothers (n=98) on a Mother-Baby Unit received health information focused on self-care and infant care delivered as either simple printed materials or YouTube videos on an iPad. Mothers completed a pretest, post-test, and an acceptability survey. Following completion of the initiative, nurses who participated in delivering the health education using one of these 2 methods were asked to complete a survey to determine their satisfaction with and confidence in using the materials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers, on average, were 26 years old; 72% had a high school education; and 41% were African American. The improvement in knowledge scores was significantly higher for the iPad group (8.6% vs 4.4%, P=.02) compared to the pamphlet group. Group (B=4.81, P=.36) and time (B=6.12, P<.001) significantly affected scores, while no significant interaction effect was observed (B=5.69, P=.09). There were no significant differences in responses between the groups (all P values >.05). The nurses had a mean age of 44.3 years (SD 13.9) and had, on average, 16.6 years of experience (SD 13.8). The nurses felt confident and satisfied administering both educational modalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pamphlet and iPad were identified as feasible and acceptable modalities for educating new mothers about self-care and infant care, though the iPad was more effective in improving knowledge. Understanding the acceptability of different teaching methods to patient educators is important for successful delivery of informational materials at discharge.
authors.affiliation: University of Louisville, School of Nursing, Louisville, KY, United States. mclogs01@louisville.edu.
authors.forename: M Cynthia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6176-4237
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Logsdon
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5943-3877
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Diane
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9774-2056
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.forename: Frances
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5171-1601
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Reetta
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7567-4622
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stikes
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6174-5338
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rushton
authors.forename: John
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9947-4051
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1532-6380
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Capps
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9719-7636
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sparks
keywords: Nurses; Patient Education as Topic; Personal Satisfaction; Postpartum Period; Utilization; Video Recording