A new audiovisual educational tool for family planning.

In 1972 a study was carried out in Harlem Hospital Family Planning Clinic with the aim of measuring the effectiveness of Responsive Television as a teaching tool and comparing its impact upon patient behavior to that of conventional postpartum family planning classes. The results of the study showed that the 2 test groups did not differ significantly with respect to acceptance rates choice of method accepted or duration and frequency of shifting methods. However there were differences between both these groups and the group that received no family planning education at all or only a brief individual conference. In the test groups between 2/3 and 3/4 accepted family planning. About 2/3 of these chose the pill and about 1/5 the IUD. Of all those choosing a family planning method regardless of the amount of education received there were no differences with regard to the likelihood of staying with the clinic for a given period of time. It was concluded the Responsible Television technique is a useful tool for patient health education.