One hundred thirty-five young, black, inner-city, pregnant women assessed the usefulness of a videotape designed by community health nurses to increase the self-care practices of low-income minority women with regard to their prenatal, pediatric, and family planning health needs. Seventy percent of the women rated as very useful information on the availability of health care and the protocols of public health clinics. The women also stated that they would tell others about public health care services and intended to make use of these services themselves as a result of viewing the videotape. The viewers' responses help clarify the preferred modality, content, and length of patient education for medically and socioeconomically high-risk pregnant women who tend to underuse preventive and primary health care.
PIP: The improvement of health care facilities and delivery for indigent women and their children is of prime importance. As a result of improving health facilities, it is believed that an improvement will be made in infant and child health. The study was conducted in an inner- city area of 150,000 people; where the majority of families have single mothers as their head. The community is served by a community health center and 2 satellite clinics. The aim of the study was to provide a health education program which would explain the services of the clinic to new patients or to those persons not registered with a Department of Health (DOH) clinic. A sample population of 135 black inner-city; pregnant women viewed a videocassette entitled, "Making Healthy Choices" at the community health center and at a public high school. The videocassette provides 3 scenarios and solutions to each of the problems presented; however, the range of topics presented could be considered pertinent to each of the viewer's lives. The results of the study are as follows: over 50% of the women viewing the videocassette found the information "very useful"; however, when the group is broken down into those familiar with DOH services and those who are not, over 60% of the non-DOH women found the tape useful. When asked to identify the most frequent used service at the DOH, prenatal care and pediatric care were ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively. In addition to this, explanations on the length of pediatric care proved useful since length of time proved a deterrent to many mothers seeking child care.