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Barriers to Sexual Health Provision for People with
Intellectual Disabilities - A Service Provider and Clinician
Perspective.
Gore, V., Stancliffe, R. J., Broom, A and Wilson, N.
INTRODUCTION
CONCLUSIONS
The World Health Organization’s World Report on
Barriers encountered by disability service providers and
Disability (2011) identifies that people with disabilities
clinicians reduce their ability to address the sexual health of
encounter many barriers that impact on health outcomes.
people with intellectual disabilities thus reducing access to
Sexual health is a fundamental component of our overall
optimal sexual health. For people with intellectual disabilities to
general health. Yet it remains one of the most overlooked
experience optimal sexual health the barriers experienced by
areas of healthcare for people with disabilities, especially
the service providers and clinicians supporting them must be
those with intellectual disabilities. The report identifies that
addressed. But how?
people with intellectual disabilities encounter many
barriers such as lack of sex education and myths that
Lack of Guidelines and
Funding Requirements
prevent them from experiencing optimal sexual health. In
• Introduction of funding requirements that
explicitly incorporate sexual health.
recent years there has been an increasing expectation
that the sexual health of people with intellectual
disabilities will be addressed by disability service
Lack of Policy
providers. The World Report on Disability calls for the
• Funding bodies to provide policy direction.
• Services to develop comprehensive policy.
barriers to service delivery to be addressed. But what
barriers do disability service providers face?
METHODOLOGY
Phase One
Investigates the administrative
context for sexual health
provision by conducting brief
semi-structured phone
interviews with disability
service managers.
Low Priority
• Sexual health to be included in all clients annual
individual service plans.
Reactive
• Staff training which emphasises the importance
and diversity of sexual health provision.
Phase Two
Semi-structured face-to-face
interviews with clinicians
working for disability service
providers and in private
practice who work with people
with intellectual disabilities in
relation to their sexual health.
RESULTS
Barriers to sexual health provision
Administration
Attitudes
Experiences
Funding
Community attitudes
Lack of lifelong
sexuality training
Lack of guidelines and
funding requirements
Family attitudes
Lack of sex education
Lack of policy
Staff attitudes
Low priority
Lack of collaboration
Protectiveness
Limited resources
Reactive
Lack of staff training
Lack of privacy
Contact: Vanessa Gore email: [email protected]