Swedish Social Work Students’ Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual Health Issues in Their Future Profession

Nursing students' perceived attitudes toward addressing sexual health in their future profession: A longitudinal quantitative study

BACKGROUND

Sexual health is a necessary component of human wellbeing. Nurses espouse holistic care but in practice often overlook a person's sexual health. Disparities linked to sexual health persist nationally and globally, including those among gender and sexual minorities. Inconsistent sexual health curriculum in nurse education in the United States has led to gaps in learning. This study aimed to understand nursing students' attitudes toward addressing sexual health issues in their future profession during an Associate of Science in Nursing program in the United States.

METHODS

A convenience sample of Associate of Science in Nursing students from a university voluntarily participated in this longitudinal quantitative study. All eligible students enrolled in the first semester completed the Students' Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual Health instrument. Summary statistics and Pearson r correlation were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The 159 students were relatively young, female, and White, non-Hispanic. The total score of students' attitudes toward addressing sexual health was 83.48, ranging from 41 to 109. Regarding the positively loaded items of the Students' Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual Health, the results showed students believed they would have too much to do for handling sexual issues (M = 4.44), need to get basic knowledge about sexual health (M = 4.31), and take time to deal with patients' sexual issues (M = 4.24).

CONCLUSION

In this study, nursing students reported positive attitudes toward addressing sexual health in their future profession but acknowledged they would need basic education. Due to the homogeneity of participants' backgrounds, the generalizability of study results might be limited. It is suggested that nurse educators should develop an innovative curriculum for building students' competence and prepare graduates to deliver sexual health care for meeting a person's health needs.

Analysing intersecting social resources in young people's ability to suggest safer sex - results from a national population-based survey in Sweden

Background

Safer sex is one of the most crucial areas in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Drawing on the theory of health promotion where social life generates resources for health our hypothesis is that having control over one’s life situation, affects the ability for safer sex and thereby sexual health. The aim is to explore the association between having control over one’s life and the ability to suggest safer sex among young people aged 16–29, and how this plays out in relation to membership of six constructed social groups based on: gender, transgender experience, sexual identity, economy, being foreign-born, and social welfare recipiency followed by an in-depth analysis of the intersection of gender and sexual identity.

Methods

The data set comprises cross-sectional survey responses from a stratified random sample of 7755 in the total Swedish population of young people. The SRHR-focused questionnaire was developed within the HIV-monitoring program at the Public Health Agency of Sweden. Data collection was conducted by Statistics Sweden between April 15 and June 8 in 2015. The survey had a response rate of 26%, which was in line with the study design. Statistical analysis was used to explore the self-reported outcome variable ability for safer sex and the exposure variable control over one’s life. The methods used comprise multivariate logistic regression and an intersecting multivariate regression exploring 12 intersecting social positions by gender and sexual identity.

Results

The results show that young people’s control over their lives is associated with their ability for safer sex. Due to this, control over one’s life can be seen as a resource for safer sex. The associations in the 12 intersecting social positions showed complex patterns.

Conclusions

The intersections of resources show the complexity and that gender cannot account for all differences in the resources for young people’s ability to suggest safer sex. Implications for policy and practitioners involve both addressing and strengthening the sexual rights of young people from sexual minorities and tailoring interventions in a way that takes the intersections between gender and sexual identity into consideration.

Access to Sexual Health Services and Support for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: an Australian Cross-sector Survey

INTRODUCTION

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) have the right to access sexual health services including information, education, and support. Little is known about the capacity of sexual health professionals to provide these services.

METHODS

Using an observational research design, this study utilised a descriptive survey tool (PASH-Ext) that also encompassed a standardised measure, with a cross-sectional purposive sample of 52 Australian sexual health professionals. Data was collected in 2020.

RESULTS

Just over half of the participants reported having received training in their preservice education to work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, of these 60% held the view that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities would not feel embarrassed receiving sexual health information and support.

CONCLUSION

The study found that training is both important to the professionals' preparedness to work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and that these professionals advocate for the continuation of this training in pre-service courses and additional training in post service education for sexual health workers.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

To progressively realise Article 25 of the UNCRPD signatory, countries need to ensure sexual health services are accessible to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This study recommends that sexual health policy addresses equity of access for people with intellectual and developmental disability by ensuring all staff are prepared and supported to provide these services.

Assessment of the psychometrics of the Students' Attitudes towards Addressing Sexual Health Extended (SA-SH-Ext) questionnaire for social educator students

Background

Social educators have an important role in promoting and rehabilitating sexual health as they provide information, discuss, and support sexual health in daily life for persons living with impairments, intellectual disabilities, and complex needs.

Aim

The study aimed to assess the psychometrics of the Students´ Attitudes towards addressing Sexual Health Extended (SA-SH-Ext) questionnaire for social educator students.

Methods

A sample of 213 Norwegian social educator students was used to test internal consistency reliability and construct validity with explorative factor analysis.

Outcomes

Internal consistency reliability showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.906 and construct validity measured with explorative factor analysis showed good results with the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) being high (0.929) and Bartlett´s test of sphericity being significant (P = .000).

Results

The SA-SH-Ext is reliable and valid for social educator students, however the psychometric assessment revealed that the domains of the SA-SH-Ext should be revised compared to the original SA-SH questionnaire.

Clinical implications

Measuring the effectiveness of sexual health education interventions is important and to have a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess future professionals’ attitudes towards addressing sexual health increases the ability to target specific client needs or knowledge gaps, such as addressing sexual health for persons with intellectual disabilities.

Strengths

and limitations: In comparison with previous studies of the original SA-SH, SA-SH-Ext has high reliability and validity. The current study was performed with classical test theory. Performing Rasch analysis may detect other psychometric issues, by improving precision and thereby providing a deeper understanding of both how to optimise a questionnaire and understand the results of a used questionnaire. Despite the response rate of 34%, the results are seen as valid considering the low correlation between response rate and validity and that the sample size was sufficient for the chosen psychometric tests.

Conclusion

The SA-SH-Ext is a valuable questionnaire for assessing the level of perceived preparedness among social educator students in addressing sexual health, a field often neglected in health and care.

Lunde GH, Blaalid L, Gerbild H, et al. Assessment of the psychometrics of the Students' Attitudes towards Addressing Sexual Health Extended (SA-SH-Ext) questionnaire for social educator students. Sex Med 2022;10:100507.

Social educator students' readiness to address sexual health in their future profession

BACKGROUND

Norwegian social educator students' attitudes towards addressing sexual health are unknown, even if their future clients often have needs related to sexual issues.

PURPOSE

To investigate social educator students' readiness to address sexual health in their future profession.

METHODS

In 2019, 213 social educator students (response rate 34%) responded to the Students' Attitudes towards addressing Sexual Health Extended online questionnaire.

RESULTS

Most of the social educator students felt comfortable and ready to address sexual health in their future profession, but thought they had insufficient competence and education concerning sexual health. There were gender and age differences when discussing sexual health among persons with intellectual disabilities.

CONCLUSION

Despite most Norwegian social educator students feeling ready to address sexual health, they needed additional competences and education. Further research is needed concerning the effectiveness of educational interventions targeting competence in sexual health, to ensure sufficient support for clients in this field.