Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals

Dyer, Kerry; das Nair, Roshan

Abstract

Purpose: Research indicates that although 50–60% of people who have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience changes in sexual functioning, sexuality issues remain largely unaddressed in rehabilitation. This study aimed to explore rehabilitation professionals’ perceptions and experiences of discussing sexuality with service-users who have had a TBI.

Method: Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 24 participants from two local National Health Service trusts and from a national charity. Four focus groups were conducted with pre-existing groups of professionals, using a semi-structured interview schedule. Focus group data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Six main themes were derived from the analysis: (1) sexuality after TBI is a specialist issue; (2) sexuality is a sensitive subject; (3) practicalities of discussing sexuality; (4) roles and responsibilities; (5) dilemmas about risk and vulnerabilities; and (6) organisational and structural issues.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a more proactive approach to addressing sexuality issues be taken by incorporating sexuality into assessments and by having sexuality information available for service-users. Support for professionals is also needed in the form of the development of policy, on-going training and supervision.

Citation

Dyer, K., & das Nair, R. (2013). Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36(17), https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2013.859747

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 27, 2013
• Publication Date: Nov 29, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jun 24, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 24, 2016
• Journal: Disability and Rehabilitation
• Print ISSN: 0963-8288
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-5165
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Open
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2013.859747
• Keywords: Rehabilitation, Sexuality, Traumatic brain injury
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/719167
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2013.859747
• Additional Information: The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is available in; Disability and Rehabilitation 2014 http://www.tandfonline.com/10.3109/09638288.2013.859747