The perceived loss of physical abilities and the generation of meaning and purpose in life are important variables that relate to positive adaptation following spinal cord injury. Treatment implications related to factors that increase quality of life following spinal cord injury are discussed.
Interprofessional collaboration requires that health professionals think holistically about presenting concerns, particularly for multimodal problems like sexual dysfunction. However, health professions students appear to receive relatively little sexual health education, and generally none is offered on an interprofessional basis. To assess current degree of interprofessional thinking in sexual health care, 472 health professions students in Georgia, United States, were presented with a sexual dysfunction vignette and asked to rate the relevance of, and their familiarity with, interventions offered by several professionals. They also were asked to identify the most likely cause of the sexual dysfunction. Students rated relevance and familiarity with interventions as highest for physicians and lowest for dentists, with higher ratings of nurses by nursing students. More advanced students reported greater familiarity with mental health, physician, and physical therapy interventions. Finally, nursing students were less likely to attribute the dysfunction to a physical cause. These findings indicate that students may prioritize biomedical approaches in their initial assessment and may need additional supports to consider the spectrum of biopsychosocial factors contributing to sexual functioning. To encourage interprofessional critical thinking and prepare students for interprofessional care, sexual health curricula may be improved with the inclusion of interprofessional training. Specific recommendations for curriculum development are offered.
Findings help to establish sexual satisfaction as a moderator between sexual communication and relationship satisfaction, although directionality cannot be supported. Results also highlight the role of depression in overall relationship functioning and support the biopsychosocial model of care for treatment of sexual dysfunction in people living with MS. (PsycINFO Database Record
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