Assessing Community Need and Receptiveness to Reproductive Health Literacy Delivered in a Laundromat Setting

Introduction: Effective interventions to address health literacy gaps require both accessibility and community engagement. Proposing an intervention in a community laundromat adds a unique layer of accessibility and convenience, fostering engagement in a familiar, everyday setting. We conducted a needs assessment with laundromat patrons to provide valuable insights that can inform the work of other community health researchers. Needs assessments are an essential step for evaluating the acceptance and support of proposed community-based interventions. Methods: We collected survey data using quota sampling to recruit English- or Spanish-speaking patrons from four urban laundromats. We assessed laundromat usage, receptivity to a proposed intervention, reproductive knowledge, self-efficacy, and intention to seek care through descriptive analysis using STATA. Results: Participants ( n = 60) were 38.8 years old on average, 41.2% spoke only Spanish, and 32.8% had a college degree. Most participants (96.7%) felt their health care experience needed improvement. The average reproductive knowledge score was moderate (mean 7.0, standard deviation 2.8). Areas of least awareness included knowledge on birth intervals (15.0%), folic acid purpose (8.3%), and sexually transmitted illness-related symptoms (18.3%). Significant differences between language groups were found in awareness of birth intervals ( p = 0.013), fertility windows ( p = 0.000), prenatal care initiation ( p = 0.007), STI-related fetal risk ( p = 0.027), and pregnancy spacing effects on fetal weight ( p = 0.006). No differences were found in self-efficacy or intention to seek care. Participants (68.3%) were receptive to a laundromat-based intervention. Discussion/Conclusion: Findings from our community assessment highlight a need for improved reproductive literacy and health care experiences. Participants also shared an interest in laundromat-based and community-driven interventions.