Taylor, F. orcid.org/0000-0002-6961-2457, Turner-Moore, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-0045-9095, Pacey, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-4387-8871 et al. (1 more author) (2023) Accessing publicly funded donor insemination treatment in the UK: is funding information available on fertility clinic websites? Human Fertility, 26 (3). pp. 512-518. ISSN 1464-7273
Abstract
We sought to find out if information about public funding for regulated donor insemination (DI) was available on UK fertility clinic websites, and if so, what information was provided for same-sex couples and single women; and if the available information was easily readable. The ‘Choose a fertility clinic’ pages of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) website were used to identify all licensed fertility clinics in the UK, and any available text on public funding for DI treatment was extracted. The Flesch reading ease scores were calculated to determine the readability of the extracted text. Of the 52 clinics included in the synthesis, 23 mentioned public funding, and for 16 of these, it was unclear whether public funding was available. Six of the 23 clinics mentioned public funding for same-sex couples, and two mentioned public funding for single women. The Flesch reading ease scores indicated that none of the text about funding for DI treatment on any of the clinic websites met the NHS-advised level of readability for health information. Fertility clinic websites should specify whether they offer publicly funded treatment, and to whom, as well as clearly stating the eligibility criteria, using suitably readable language to communicate this.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Donor insemination; fertility treatment; health literacy; online health information; public funding |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > The Medical School (Sheffield) > Division of Genomic Medicine (Sheffield) > Department of Oncology and Metabolism (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jun 2023 08:56 |
Last Modified: | 01 Oct 2024 22:31 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/14647273.2023.2202830 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:199806 |