This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Simpson, G. Articles by Bertapelle, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Simpson, G. Articles by Bertapelle, T. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Improving the rehabilitative management of client sexual health concerns after neurological disability: evaluation of a staff sexuality training programme in New Zealand

Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Liverpool Health Service, Sydney, Australia, grahame.simpson{at}swsahs.nsw.gov.au

Samir Anwar

Rehab Plus, Point Chevalier, Auckland, New Zealand

Joan Wilson

ISIS Rehabilitation Centre, Dunedin, New Zealand

Tanya Bertapelle

Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Liverpool Health Service, Sydney, Australia

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a staff sexuality training programme as a means of improving the rehabilitative management of client sexual health concerns after neurological disability.

Design: A prospective controlled pre- and posttest evaluation design with six-month follow-up.

Subjects: Seventy-four multidisciplinary rehabilitation and disability staff who attended a two-day workshop, and a control group of 25 staff members who did not receive the training.

Setting: Two workshops were held at major rehabilitation centres in the North and South Islands of New Zealand respectively.

Main measures: The Sex Attitude Scale, as well as three purpose-designed measures including an objective knowledge test, a self-rating inventory of skills and clinical activity, and a single-item measure of the degree of staff comfort.

Results: Workshop participants showed significant increases in knowledge, skills and comfort comparing pre-to post-workshop scores. A number of these gains were maintained at the six-month follow-up. There was an associated increase in the level of reported staff activity in addressing patient/client sexual health concerns in the six months to follow-up, compared to a similar time period preceding the workshop. In contrast, the control group had similar pre-workshop scores to the workshop participants, but recorded no increase on the measures, or in their level of reported activity, at the six-month follow-up.

Conclusions: The programme showed initial promise as an effective intervention in upgrading the capacity of staff working in rehabilitation and disability agencies to address the sexual health concerns of their patients/clients.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 20, No. 10, 847-859 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0269215506072180


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?