New research highlights the power of culturally tailored women's health education

A new research project led by Western Sydney University has helped hundreds of Muslim women improve their understanding of reproductive health, highlighting the importance of culturally (including faith) tailored heath information this Women's Health Week.

The Women's Awareness in Reproductive 'Aafiya (WARDA) program engaged close to 500 women through 40 workshops from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds across the state in mosques to co-design and deliver reproductive health promotion resources alongside community members and health professionals.

Co-design data was collected through 14 workshops and interviews across NSW. They were interpreted and contextualised with the help of an Advisory Group of Muslim women which included community volunteers, faith leaders, health professionals and other stakeholders. Four evidence-based, faith-informed workbooks were created covering contents on menstruation, reproductive health, preconception health, pregnancy, birth and postpartum health before being evaluated through 26 workshops.

Lead researcher, Dr Sadia Hossain from Western Sydney University's Discipline of Public Health, School of Medicine said that participants reported increased confidence discussing reproductive health, greater awareness of available health services, and stronger intentions to seek preventative healthcare.

"We know that Muslim women’s needs are not met through mainstream women’s health services. Many Muslim women experience discrimination or fear that they will experience discrimination if they seek health information suited to their cultural and religious needs. There could also be cultural and linguistic barriers to accessing existing reproductive health services," said Dr Hossain.

"Community–led approaches can help address persistent inequities in women's health so it was fantastic that 99.8 per cent of the women would recommend WARDA, and 91.2 per cent rated the resources as very or extremely useful."

The need for not only translating health messaging but communication of faith-informed information was highlighted by Dr Hossain.

"30 per cent of the participating women were born in Australia, and the others came from 33 different countries. There were 21 different languages spoken at home, more than half spoke only English or English with another language at home, so language was not the problem. They still experienced a common lack of cultural safety," said Dr Hossain.

Another WARDA researcher, Associate Professor Rakime Elmir from the University's School of Nursing and Midwifery said better health outcomes can be achieved when evidence-based information is delivered in culturally meaningful ways.

"The mosques and faith-leaders involvement in strengthening the women's engagement and confidence shows us that health information is most effective when it is co-designed with communities, delivered in trusted settings, and supported by culturally embedded facilitators and health professionals,” said Associate Professor Elmir.

Researchers said the findings demonstrate how trusted community settings can play an important role in improving health literacy and helping women access healthcare services.

The project was funded by the NSW Government's Investing in Women Program.

The research team included Dr Sadia Hossain, Professor Sarah Lewis, Associate Professor Rakime Elmir, Professor Freya MacMillan, Sooaad Dahoud, students and community researchers.

For more information, read 'Women’s Awareness in Reproductive ‘Aafiya (WARDA) Research Report'.

ENDS.

11 September 2026
Emily Neville, Senior Media and PR Advisor