Oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs) and cancer patients often have difficulties in navigating conversations about sexual changes and concerns due to cancer and its treatments. The present study draws on Discursive Psychology to analyze how the topic of sexuality is raised and managed in Dutch oncological consultations. Our corpus consists of 28 audio recordings. We analyzed the discursive practices used by cancer patients and oncology HCPs and to what effect. Patients, on the one hand, employ vagueness, pronouns, and ellipses, while HCPs attribute talk to others and use generalizations, and speech perturbations. Through these practices they collectively keep the topic of sexuality at a distance, thereby constructing it as a delicate topic. Moreover, we explicate the norms related to sexual behavior that cancer patients and oncology HCPs orient to in their talk. Finally, we address ways in which oncology HCPs can open the door on discussing sexual changes with their patients.
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Teachers can play an important role in students’ healthy relational and sexual development. You can pay attention to this subject with specifically designed lessons. But it’s even more important to address relational and sexual development within the general curriculum, whenever the topic comes up in class. Discussing about sexuality is not always easy. This document provides practical tips for teachers for discussing sexuality in the classroom. This overview is based on the Dutch report 'Seksualiteit bespreken in de klas, hoe doe je dat?'
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PurposeSexuality and relationships education (SRE) often do not accommodate the needs of vulnerable young people in child and youth social care, (school) social work, and residential or foster care, leaving professionals in these fields a vital role in delivering SRE to these young people. This scoping review examines what competencies professionals need to facilitate adequate guidance and education about sexuality and relationships in their work with vulnerable children and young people.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search in five databases – PsychINFO, Eric, Medline, CINAHL and Social Services Abstracts – for articles published between 1991 and 2021 on March 6, 2021, using a set of predefined search strings. Articles on sexuality and relationship education (SRE) or sexual health, related to competencies of (future) professionals and published in English were included.ResultsOur review revealed a range of competencies that professionals may need, such as providing basic prevention, dealing with children struggling with their sexual orientation, handling disclosure of sexual abuse or dealing with problematic sexualized behavior (often combinations of the above), but also supporting young people in exploring positive aspects of relationships and sexuality.ConclusionSRE is an integral part of the work of professionals in child and youth social care. Wider organizational and educational commitment is needed for implementation of SRE to facilitate a safe environment for diverse young people.
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CC-BY Nurse Education Today, 2021, January Background: Although older adults are sexual, sexuality is infrequently discussed with them by health care professionals. Nursing students, as future professionals, can make an important contribution by developing competences in discussing intimacy and sexuality with older adults to increase quality of life and to prevent sexual problems. In order to improve these competences, current levels of knowledge and attitude need to be explored. Objectives: To investigate i) knowledge and attitudes of nursing students regarding intimacy and sexuality of older adults, ii) the difference in knowledge and attitudes of nursing students in different years of study and iii) frequency of discussing intimacy and sexuality with older adults. Design: Cross-sectional. Settings: A University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Participants: Nursing students, ≥16 years who were able to read and write in Dutch. Methods: The Ageing Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale was used among nursing students. Furthermore, demographic information and frequencies were collected. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results: In total, 732 students participated. The mean knowledge-score was 43.9 (SD = 8.9), the mean attitudescore 64.3 (SD = 16.0). Unlike attitude, the level of knowledge differed significantly per year of study: first year students had the lowest and third year students the highest knowledge. Most students stated they ‘never’ (54.1%) or ‘once’ (13.2%) discussed intimacy and sexuality with older adults. Reasons to avoid talking about intimacy and sexuality were feelings of ‘not being the right person’ (17.3%) and ‘incompetence’ (14.0%). Conclusions: Nursing students had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes toward older adults’ intimacy and sexuality. The knowledge-level differed per year of study, the attitude level did not. Only a minority discussed intimacy and sexuality with older adults. Moderate knowledge and positive attitudes do not mean that intimacy and sexuality is discussed. To ensure students feel responsible and competent, interventions should focus on continuous knowledge dissemination, role clarification and role modelling.
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CC-BY Gepubliceerd in Nurse Education Today, January 2021https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260691720314933Background: Although older adults are sexual, sexuality is infrequently discussed with them by health care professionals. Nursing students, as future professionals, can make an important contribution by developing competences in discussing intimacy and sexuality with older adults to increase quality of life and to prevent sexual problems. In order to improve these competences, current levels of knowledge and attitude need to be explored.Objectives: To investigate i) knowledge and attitudes of nursing students regarding intimacy and sexuality of older adults, ii) the difference in knowledge and attitudes of nursing students in different years of study and iii) frequency of discussing intimacy and sexuality with older adults.Design: Cross-sectional.Settings: A University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.Participants: Nursing students, ≥16 years who were able to read and write in Dutch.Methods: The Ageing Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale was used among nursing students. Furthermore, demographic information and frequencies were collected. Data was analyzed using SPSS.Results: In total, 732 students participated. The mean knowledge-score was 43.9 (SD = 8.9), the mean attitude-score 64.3 (SD = 16.0). Unlike attitude, the level of knowledge differed significantly per year of study: first year students had the lowest and third year students the highest knowledge. Most students stated they ‘never’ (54.1%) or ‘once’ (13.2%) discussed intimacy and sexuality with older adults. Reasons to avoid talking about intimacy and sexuality were feelings of ‘not being the right person’ (17.3%) and ‘incompetence’ (14.0%).Conclusions: Nursing students had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes toward older adults’ intimacy and sexuality. The knowledge-level differed per year of study, the attitude level did not. Only a minority discussed intimacy and sexuality with older adults. Moderate knowledge and positive attitudes do not mean that intimacy and sexuality is discussed. To ensure students feel responsible and competent, interventions should focus on continuous knowledge dissemination, role clarification and role modelling.
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Sexual functioning is often impaired in patientswith Parkinson’s disease (PD) and may affect quality oflife of patients and their spouse. However, little is knownabout the practice patterns of neurologists with regard todiscussing sexuality in this field. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate to what extent neurologistsdiscuss sexuality with PD patients. A 22-item questionnairewas sent to 139 neurologists specializing in PD. The surveycontained questions about their attitudes, knowledge, andpractice patterns with respect to sexual dysfunction (SD) inpatients with PD. The response rate of the survey was66.9%. Most participants (56.8%) stated that they addresssexuality in less than half of their PD patients. High age ofpatients (42.0%), insufficient consultation time (37.5%),and a lack of patients’ initiative to raise the topic them-selves (36.4%) were frequently reported barriers towardsdiscussing sexuality. The majority of participants consid-ered that discussing sexuality is a responsibility that laywith neurologists (85.2%), nurses (73.9%), and patients(72.7%). One quarter of the neurologists reported to haveinsufficient or no knowledge on SD. The majority of par-ticipants regarded screening for SD important or slightlyimportant (85.2%). A large proportion of Dutch neurolo-gists specializing in PD do not routinely discuss sexualitywith their PD patients. Sexual healthcare in PD patientsmay benefit from time-efficient tools and agreements onwho is responsible for discussing SD. Furthermore, rec-ommendations in PD guidelines on screening and manag-ing SD should be adapted to fit everyday practicehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC BY 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Cancer and its treatments cause significant changes in sexuality that affect the quality of life of both patients and their partners. As these issues are not always discussed with healthcare professionals, cancer patients turn to online health communities to find answers to questions or for emotional support pertaining to sexual issues. By using a discursive psychological perspective, we explore the social actions that participants in online health forums perform when discussing sexuality. Data were collected by entering search terms in the search bars of three online health forums. Our analysis of 213 threads, containing 1,275 posts, provides insight into how participants who present themselves as women with cancer account for their sexual issues and, in doing so, orient to two intertwined norms: Having untroubled sex is part of a couple’s relationship, and male partners are entitled to having untroubled sex. We discuss the potential harmful consequences of orienting to norms related to sexual behaviour. Yet, our findings can also help healthcare professionals in broaching the topic of sexuality in conversations with cancer patients. The insights of this study into what female patients themselves treat as relevant can assist health professionals in better aligning with patients’ interactional concerns.
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Over the last two decades, there has been increasing political attention on sexual abuse in care. Research has not only shown that sexual abuse in care occurs but also that abuse can be perpetrated by other children and young people in care, children of foster carers, as well as by foster carers and residential staff members. One of the main risk factors turns out to be the absence of relationship and sexuality education in care. This chapter describes the work in a three-year project where partners in four European countries developed products to educate (future) professionals to address sex and sexuality with young people in care, assist young people’s healthy sexual development, and safeguard children and young people from abuse. Grounded in the holistic approach of the WHO’s Standards for Sexuality in Europe, and based on literature review and interviews, five core competencies were developed and operationalized in a reflection instrument. Based on this, an open access (online) course for teams in care and open access materials for social work education were developed and can be found at https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429342912/ac296fd5-0ba8-4c3d-97c0-792bf07178b6/content/www.amsterdamuas.com/safe">www.amsterdamuas.com/safe.
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Teachers can play an important role in students’ healthy relational and sexual development. They can pay attention to this subject with specifically designed lessons. But it’s even more important to address relational and sexual development within the general curriculum, whenever the topic comes up in class. Discussing about sexuality is not always easy. This document provides practical tips for teachers for discussing sexuality in the classroom.
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Since October 2015, four European universities of applied sciences and three youth care organisations in Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and Scotland, have been working as partners to develop education and training for (future) professionals. The goal of this partnership is to help (future) professionals: 1. To support healthy sexual development of young people in care; 2. To interact with young people, their (foster) parents, colleagues, and other professionals, concerning the topics of sexual behaviour, intimacy, and inter-personal relationships, in order to prevent sexual abuse of young people in care. This report shows the steps taken to develop a set of core competencies that form the basis of the education and training for (future) professionals. The study described in this report resulted in a list of 61 competency items (knowledge, skills and attitudes) that (future) professionals need in order to support healthy sexual development of young people in care. The most relevant items were grouped into the following clusters: 1. Discussing sexuality, 2. Supporting the needs of young people concerning sexuality, 3. Act professionally in relation to the topic of sexuality, 4. Dealing with different norms, values and cultures with regard to sexuality, 5. Recognizing and responding to offensive sexual behaviour, including sexual abuse.
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