Sexual Counselling for Spinal Cord Injured Males

Abstract

This paper describes some of the physical and psychological aspects of sexual adjustment in spinal cord injured males as has been documented in current literature. The authors then present the findings of a research study which they conducted. This study investigates attitudes toward sexuality and sexual functioning among a sample of spinal cord injured men, and explores the kind of professional medical services these men availed themselves of and would find desirable in dealing with this aspect of their rehabilitation. From this information the authors attempt to determine to what extent there is a need for qualified sexual counselling for spinal cord injured males and in what manner it might be most effectively offered.

Occupational Therapists' Roles and Attitudes toward Sexual Habilitation of Chronically Ill and Disabled Children

“…Only few articles related to sexuality of disabled individuals have appeared in occupational therapy journals, none addressing the needs and problems of infants and children who are chronically ill or disabled (Krelenbaum and Love, 1979;Neistadt & Baker, 1978;Sidman, 1977). Sidman (1977) presented a literature review a rticle discussing specific disabilities in relation to sexual functioning of adults.…”

“…Neistadt and Baker (1978) described a sex counseling program at a hospital which involved the education of adult disabled patients and inservice training for occupational therapists to improve their level of comfort when participating in sex counseling. Krelenbaum and Love (1979) attempted to determine the need for sexual counseling for spinal cord injured men. Conine et al (1979) reported that the majority of the 26 occupational therapists who were surveyed in their study held positive attitudes toward sexual rehabilitation but only a small percentage were participating in any of the tasks that were related to sexual reactivation of their adult clients.…”

Performance and Attitudes of Occupational Therapists Regarding Sexual Habilitation of Pediatric Patients

“…Of the few articles on sexuality and disabled individuals that have appeared in the occupational therapy literature (8)(9)(10)(11)(12), only one, by Conine and Quastel (13), has addressed the special needs of infants and children. Material on sexual self-image and gender identification is contained in case studies in a chapter of The Developmental Therapist (14) entitled "Development of the Child," but occupa-tional therapy literature rarely discusses the adverse consequences that illness or disability may have on a child's sexuality.…”

“…No category of individuals was in hygiene and the care of the gen-identified by a majority of responitals. dents as responsible for any given Twenty-six respondents (37%) task, except for the occupational did not comply with the request to therapist who was identified as redetermine which individual (of the sponsible for task 9 least frequently selected individuals overall, never achieving a greater than 19% response frequency on any task. Parents were identified as responsible for helping their children develop a positive sexual self-identity (task 2) and providing them with opportunities for self-exploration and understanding their own and others' bodies (task 3).…”