Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals
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 dis...
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2013
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34372/ |
| _version_ | 1848794837404352512 |
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| author | Dyer, Kerry das Nair, Roshan |
| author_facet | Dyer, Kerry das Nair, Roshan |
| author_sort | Dyer, Kerry |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:22:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-34372 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:22:32Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-343722020-05-04T16:39:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34372/ Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals Dyer, Kerry das Nair, Roshan 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. Taylor & Francis 2013-11-29 Article PeerReviewed Dyer, Kerry and das Nair, Roshan (2013) Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36 (17). pp. 1431-1438. ISSN 1464-5165 Rehabilitation Sexuality Traumatic brain injury http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2013.859747 doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.859747 doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.859747 |
| spellingShingle | Rehabilitation Sexuality Traumatic brain injury Dyer, Kerry das Nair, Roshan Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title | Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title_full | Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title_fullStr | Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title_short | Talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| title_sort | talking about sex after traumatic brain injury: perceptions and experiences of multidisciplinary rehabilitation professionals |
| topic | Rehabilitation Sexuality Traumatic brain injury |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34372/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34372/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34372/ |