LEC 10: Sexuality & Sexual Health Flashcards
1
Q
Sexuality
A
- A central aspect of being human throughout life
- Encompasses sex, gender identification and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, and reproduction
- Sexuauality is experienced and expressed through fantasies, desires, beleifs, attitudes, values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships
- Not all these dimenstions are always experienced or expressed
2
Q
Influences one sexuality include:
A
- Biological
- Psychological
- Social
- Economic
- Political
- Cultural
- Ethical
- Legal
- Hsitorirical
- Relegious and piritual factors
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And their interactions
-
And their interactions
3
Q
Sexual Health
A
- The experience of ongoing physical, psychological, and socio-cultural well being related to sexuality
- Not mearly the absence of dysfunction or disease
4
Q
Why is sexuality/ sexual health important?
A
- Sexuality is an important part of being human, but an area of practice mostly ignored by practitioners who are lacking in comfort and skills about how to approach or handle the topic
- The human need for touch and intimacy is a dynamice process, but it remains and may even increase through a difficult illness
5
Q
Nursing & Sexuality/ Sexual Health
A
- Sexual health and sexuality are both components of the human experience, and thus, a component of holistic nursing care, regardless of age/ability (Dattilo & Brewer, 2005)
- The therapeutic relationship provides an ideal relationship within which to raise sexuality, and sexual health issues, and integrate therapeutic interventions when planning patient care (Katz, 2003)
- Our own culture, values and beliefs will impact our work as nurses
- As early as 1974 the American Nurses Association recognized the importance of sexual health as a component of nursing practice
- In 1992, the Canadian Nurses Association issued “The Role of the Nurse in Reproductive and Sexual Health” (in 2002 this was replaced by the “The Role of the Nurse in Reproductive and Genetic Technologies”.
- Nurses are advocates for informed decision making around reproductive and sexual health matters and practices.
6
Q
What doe we know about nursing practice and sexual health?
A
- Dattilo & Brewer interviewed senior nursing students about the inclusion of sexual health assessments in their practice:
- Students were personally uncomfotrable with the topic, described a lack of educational preparation, and that similar practice was mirroered by their colleagues
- Nurses may not believe that patients expect nurses to ask about sexual concerns
- Lack of confidence
7
Q
Health Disparities
A
- LGBT youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide.
- LGBT youth are more likely to be homeless.
- Lesbian women are less likely to receive preventive cancer screenings.
- Gay men are at higher risk of HIV and other STDs, especially within communities of color
- Lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be overweight or obese.
- Lesbians are less likely to get preventive services for cancer, such as mammograms and Pap tests.
- Bisexuals have higher rates of behavioral health issues compared to lesbians and gay men.
- Transgender people have a high prevalence of HIV/STDs, violence victimization, mental health issues, and suicide
- Older LGBT people face additional barriers to health because of isolation and a lack of social services and culturally competent providers.
- LGBT populations have disproportionately high prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use.
8
Q
Researching for LGBT+ Health Believes
A
- Our identities extend beyond sexual orientation and gender.
- LGBTQ2S people are also members of other social groups. (some are based on status and relationships of race, ability, class, language, place of origin, and beliefs)
- It is the totality of social identities and social locations that influence people’s well-being, and affect our health care experiences.
- Social determinants of health Structural determinants of health
9
Q
Why do disparities exist?
A
- A long hisotry of stigma and discrimination for LGBTQ2S people
- Sexual and gender minority status
- Accessibility to health services…barriers exist
10
Q
Barries to Health Care
A
- Individual
- Provider
- Systemic/ institutional
- Fear of discrimination (individual)
- Negative past experiences with HCPs (individual/provider)
- Insesitivity of HCP (provider)
- LAcking knowledge and competence in care provision (provider)
- Lack of standardized data collection in HC system
- Responsive sercie gaps (system)
- Lack of adequate research to guide practice
- Lack of knowledge is one of the top barriers to culturally sensitive care for the LGBT 2S population
11
Q
A
12
Q
Accessibility BArriers
A
- “minority stress”
- Brooks (1981) defined minority stress as the stress experienced by individuals from stigmatized social categories as a result of inferior social status”
- In the research, minority stress has been linked to LGBTQ health disparities such as
- Substance abuse
- Tobacco use
- Mental health challenges
13
Q
What can be done?
A
- increased training of health care providers (knowledge and sensitivity)
- commit to continuing professional development and discourse
- more research on these populations is needed..( KT & KU)
- cultural humility and cultural competence lens… diversity is all around and in us
- healthy public and health policy that address inequity and accessibility
- Do ask/do tell
- Our goal is to make health care services more welcoming to LGBTQ2S people, and to assure that all patients receive sensitive and appropriate preventive, medical, and behavioral health care.
14
Q
Sexuality and Palliative Care
A
- Palliative care services seek to improve quality of life for patients and families with a life-threatening illness by addressing their physical, psychological, and spiritual needs (World Health Organization, 2002).
- Sexuality was an important concern for most patients at the end of life, but was rarely addressed (Lemieux et al., 2004)
- Nurses have a pivotal role to play not only in the promotion of sexual health amongst people with disabilities, but also in challenging prevailing attitudes about sex and sexuality in regards to this population (Earle, 2001; Phillips & Phillips, 2006; Wheeler, 2001).
- Positive and negative messages, communicated through the attitudes and actions of caregivers, about the sexual health and conduct of people with disabilities, affect how one interprets their own sexuality and associated behaviours (Szollos & McCabe, 1995)
- The literature suggests that individuals with either developmental and/or physical disabilities are less knowledgeable about sexual topics than non-disabled individuals (Cheng & Urdy, 2002; McCabe, 1999; Milligan & Neufeldt, 2001; Szollos & McCabe, 1995)
15
Q
INdividuals with Disabilities
A
- tend to demonstrate more negative attitudes towards sexuality and have lower sexual self esteem than those without a disability
- Are at a greater risk for sexual abuse (Cheng & Urdy, 2002, 2005; Murphy & Young, 2005, Suris et al, 1996).
- Adolescents with disabilities may engage in sexual experiences without adequate information or skills to “keep them healthy, safe, and satisfied” (Murphy & Young, 2005, p. 641
