The Effect of Education Provided to Women in Menopause Through Animation on Breast Cancer Attitudes, Behaviors, and Screening Test Participation

Menopause is a stage of life in which women's reproductive functions cease due to a decline in ovarian activity and a corresponding decrease in the hormones produced by the ovaries. Seventy percent of women in menopause experience at least one symptom related to menopause. These symptoms can negatively affect women's daily lives, quality of life, interpersonal relationships, and sexual lives. Additionally, it increases women's risk of health issues such as breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Women's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward menopause determine the methods they use to cope with these symptoms and health issues. Women spend one-third of their lives in menopause and use methods such as lifestyle changes, reflexology, massage, acupressure, and listening to music to cope with menopause symptoms and issues. Animation-based education is extremely important in terms of improving the quality of education and ensuring women's self-confidence and focus. There are studies in the literature that examine the effect of educational programs on breast cancer attitudes, behaviors, and screening test status in order to cope with menopausal symptoms and breast cancer. However, no studies have been found that evaluate educational applications delivered through animation, which is thought to increase the effectiveness of education. Based on this, this study was designed to determine the effect of education delivered through animation to women in menopause on breast cancer attitudes, behaviors, and screening test participation. The study will include a total of 136 women in the menopausal period, comprising 68 experimental group participants and 68 control group participants who have applied to the Orduyeri and Kırtepe Family Health Centers affiliated with the Bartın Public Health Institution. Women who agree to participate in the project, which will run from January to August 2025, will receive 40-45 minute training sessions in a suitable room at the ASM. The training sessions will be conducted in groups of 8-12 people. The training content will include information about the purpose, duration, and rules of the training. After providing information about the project, a pre-test will be administered. Through face-to-face interviews, researchers assigned to the project will show animated videos enriched with sound and images via an online program they have prepared. These videos will be 10-12 minutes long, and an interim test will be conducted. Three months after the pre-test, the women participating in the study will be contacted, and a final test will be administered in their own homes. Project data will be collected using the Personal Information Form, Champion Health Belief Scale, and Breast Cancer Awareness Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, chi-square tests, and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests will be used in the statistical analysis of the project.