The Health in My Language (HIML) Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) aimed to provide health information and education to migrant and refugee women (inclusive of non-binary, transgender and gender diverse people) about four sexual and reproductive health (SRH) topics and their related health services: ‘Understanding Menopause’, ‘Safer Sex’, ‘Contraception Choices’ and ‘Pregnancy Choices’.

The primary purpose of the evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of the HIML SRH project in producing changes in knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and behaviours of migrant and refugee women (inclusive of non-binary, transgender and gender diverse people) who attended four different types of SRH education sessions. The evaluation was guided by four key evaluation questions about the project’s implementation quality, reach, relevance, and effectiveness. 

Using mixed‑methods, the evaluation shows that the project is effectively improving migrant and refugee women’s sexual and reproductive health knowledge, confidence and attitudes. It found that women not only learned vital SRH information but also felt more comfortable sharing it and seeking services. The project shows clear positive impact and offers recommendations on how to strengthen the project. 

Recommendations

• Advocate for longer-term funding.
• Advocate for continued investment in the collaborative partnership infrastructure.
• Advocate for more investment in the development of evidence-based resources to address language gaps.
• Continue providing capability building to strengthen Bilingual Health Educators (BHEs) skills and knowledge in general health and SRH.
• Equip all BHEs with demonstration kits and interactive activities for use in health education sessions.
• Support BHEs to be able to provide one-to-one follow up support after a session to participants as needed.
• Introduce a module on 'Healthy Relationships' to support participants to navigate conversations with others about their sexual and reproductive health.