JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Interventions to help young people make sense of sex and relationships in the context of widely available pornography are becoming increasingly supported in school settings. However, young people who experience disruptions to their education often have less access to such programs. Digital platforms may offer a more accessible method to deliver tailored sexual health and pornography literacy to young people who are disengaged from mainstream schooling, or who experience other types of structural disadvantage.

Objective:

This study describes the evaluation of “The Gist”: a co-designed online sexual health education and pornography literacy prototype designed to meet the sexual health information needs of structurally marginalised young people in Australia.

Methods:

We conducted iterative workshops with 33 young people aged between 15 and 24 years recruited from an alternative education school in Melbourne, Australia. Through interactive activities, participants evaluated the overall prototype design, including its usability, desirability, inclusiveness, and potential for impact.

Results:

Participants reported The Gist to be a useful and accessible sexual health resource prototype. However, perceived content relevance was dependent on the participants’ existing level of sexual health knowledge and experience. Low unprompted engagement with the prototype outside of facilitated workshop settings also confirmed prior researcher postulations that The Gist as a standalone digital platform is unlikely to meet the needs of this population group. Further design refinements are needed to improve user experience, including more interactive activities and visual information in place of heavily text-based features.

Conclusions:

This study provides important insights into the design and sexual health information needs of structurally marginalised young people. Further research is needed to assess the overall efficacy of The Gist prototype, as well as its ability to positively influence young people’s sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. Future iterations should consider hybrid or face-to-face delivery models to better capture student engagement.