Medical and Health Care Professionals’ Sexuality Education: State of the Art and Recommendations

Abstract

Sexuality is considered an important aspect of holistic care, but research has shown that it is often not considered, as it should be, in health services. Addressing clients’ sexuality requires a multidisciplinary approach and is not the responsibility of a single professional. The literature underlines that university students or those working in hospitals and other health care facilities are not adequately prepared to meet patients’ needs regarding sexuality. The objective of this study was, therefore, to review the scientific literature addressing training courses for health professionals in sexuality between 2000 and 2020. Several studies have shown enhancement in health care professionals’ ability to deal with patients’ sexuality issues after participating in sexuality education programs, regardless of the course load and modality, even if the long-term effects have still to be proved. Health care professionals therefore require education in the area of sexuality, regardless of their discipline. According to the articles reviewed, in order to improve the performance and comfort level of health care professionals to deal with patients’ sexuality, investments in training are necessary. Further evaluations of interdisciplinary sexuality education programmes should use larger samples and explore the differences across disciplines.

Men’s experiences of sex and intimacy after prostate cancer treatment in China: a qualitative study

“…Considering that not addressing sexual dysfunction in cancer patients appears to be overlooked during cancer care, and that sexuality is a taboo topic to discuss in public, HCPs should be provided with systematic training to equip them with sexual knowledge and communication skills so that they can feel confident in initiating consultations on sexual health. A recent review showed that regardless of the intensity and modes of training courses, sexual education can improve HCPs’ ability to deal with patients’ sexual problems [ 45 ].…”

Sexuality Within Occupational Therapy Education: Assessing Faculty and Student Perceived Competence

“…Sexuality is a core characteristic of humans and it represents the way people experience themselves and others as sexual beings, including sexual activity, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender roles, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, and reproduction (Verrastro et al 2020). Sexuality is intrinsic to the human experience and is an essential element of daily living (Walker et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite the increase in sexuality issues faced by individuals across the lifespan, the number of hours spent teaching sexuality content and skills in medical education is limited (Bayer et al, 2017;Shindel et al, 2016). Health professionals are requesting more psychosocial and practical education on topics including fertility and sexuality to address these topics with clients proficiently (Bradford et al, 2018;Verrastro et al, 2020). Sakellario and Algado (2006) reported that sexuality is often ignored by occupational therapy practitioners due to the unseen connection with occupation and a lack of understanding of the importance of sexuality in the life of the individual.…”

“…Although this opportunity to address sexuality in practice is available to occupational therapy practitioners it is often overlooked and some practitioners may even deem that the area of sexuality is not within the occupational therapy scope of practice (McGrath & Sakellariou, 2016). The reason for sexuality being overlooked is unclear, whether it be social or professional discourse or the comfort, confidence, or knowledge level of current practitioners (Eglseder et al, 2018;McGrath & Sakellariou, 2016;Verrastro et al, 2020). Literature has also proposed that the lack of discussion of sexuality in practice can be linked with historical and political views of sexuality, a perception that individuals with disabilities are asexual, and that they are passive recipients of services (McGrath & Sakellariou, 2016).…”

Is Family Structure Associated with Deviance Propensity during Adolescence? The Role of Family Climate and Anger Dysregulation

“…This state of uncertainty may also instigate risky and deviant behavior. The juvenile court reported the following conduct problems spread among adolescents from disrupted families: early school drop-out, early onset in sexuality [ 60 , 61 ], bullying, vandalism, wandering, alcohol use, gambling, belonging to a criminal environment, drug abuse and dealing, sexting, sexual abuse, violent and aggressive acts against parents. The analysis of justice-involved Italian adolescent’s family context pointed out a lack of educational coherence, as the parent’s attitudes varied between excessive severity and permissiveness [ 62 ].…”