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Sexual Expression Training

Sep 29

News: Enhance The UK launch Ground Breaking Disability And Sexual Expression Training

By Disability, Undressing Disability

In what is believed to be a first for the UK, disability awareness charity Enhance The UK has developed a new training programme on the topic of Disability and Sexual Expression.

Aimed at professionals working in caregiving roles such as occupational therapists, care home staff and physiotherapists the course tackles the subject of disability and sexual expression.

Jennie Williams, CEO of Enhance The UK (ETUK) said “Our training programme is for occupational therapists, physios, sex educators, teachers and anyone who works with disabled people. It is designed to build confidence and develop communication skills so that the current barriers around sex and disability can be removed and open conversations about sexual expression can take place with a person in their care.”

Jennie wears a patterned swirly dress, has long blonde hair and dark framed glasses with pink lipstick
ETUK highlight that the training is necessary because sex and disability is still a taboo subject, and even in a medical environment there are barriers due to a professional’s personal level of embarrassment or awkwardness around the topic.

The following scenario puts this in context. A man in his 30s has been in a traffic accident and has acquired a spinal cord injury. His life has changed dramatically and whilst he’s receiving support for his physical and mental health, he’s unsure who to ask about his sex life. A lack of intimacy is causing issues in his marriage and impacting his self esteem.

CEO Jennie Williams explains “Everyone has a right to sexual expression and it’s wrong to assume that disabled people aren’t sexual beings with the same need for intimacy, exploration and expression. Yet in a professional capacity it can be a tricky subject to approach when your employer has no policy in place, or you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed chatting about sexual wellbeing with a patient. Our training course will build confidence and develop communication skills thus enabling open conversations which support the needs of both patients and caregivers. ”

Jennie adds “We have delivered this unique training course to an NHS Trust and to care home staff and the feedback is extremely positive. It’s obvious there is a need for this course for professionals. Our goal as a charity is to change the way society views disability and to raise standards in sexual health and sexual awareness for disabled people. We are delighted to be able to support both professionals and the disabled community with our work.”

Learn more about our Disability and Sexual Expression training by contacting us directly. You can also watch this video and learn the details of the 3.5hours course.

 

Sep 03

Calling All Occupational Therapists – It’s Time To Talk About Sexual Expression!

By Sex & disability, Undressing Disability

This blog has been written by Katherine Sellors for her fellow Occupational Therapists. The aim is to help break down communication barriers and enable conversations about sex and sexual expression with patients in your care.

Sexual Expression

Occupation is what is meaningful, and it can be argued that nothing is quite as individually meaningful as sexual expression.

Sexual expression is the individual expression of sexual self and interpersonal interactions (emotional and/or physical). It’s a very objective concept but that’s what makes it so great.

It includes:

  • what makes you feel attractive and good about yourself
  • your sexual behaviours and desires
  • incorporates sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression

Unique to each person it can be such a core part of our identity that it is a protected right under the Human Rights Act. Despite working in a variety of sectors as a profession, OT’s should always be working holistically, meaning we may need to discuss sexual expression no matter where we are working.

a dark haired woman in a red dress holds up a sign that reads Occupational Therapists

Appropriate Practice

Your employer may have policies and procedures in place telling you exactly how to manage these situations when they arise which is great! Unfortunately, if you don’t have these in place, it can muddy the waters on what would be considered appropriate practice. The second place we would look would be our professional standards but unfortunately guidance here is also limited. Fortunately, there is other guidance out there we can use.
One of my favourites is the PLISSIT model or the more recently expanded, or Ex-PLISSIT, model.

PLISSIT / Ex-PLISSIT Model

The premise of this model is that is an acronym of various stages of treatment. First we must give our patients Permission to talk about sexual expression, then we must provide Limited Information meaning we only give them an overview of information that often helps support sexual expression, following this are Specific Suggestions, information for their circumstances and finally Intensive Therapy which is referral to specialist services. Some patients may not need to go through the full cycle and may find their difficulties are resolved after the initial steps, others may need to complete the cycle multiple times for a variety of different needs.

The difference between PLISSIT and Ex-PLISSIT is the concept of permission being expanded through all the stages. So, remember Permission, Limited information, specific suggestions, and intensive therapy.

Recognition Model

A different model is the Recognition Model, the premise of this being we need to recognise our patients as sexual beings and once we have done this, we will be able to feed that recognition into our treatment.

In principle this would be like recognising any occupations our patients may wish to pursue from washing and dressing to writing a novel. We would help them engage in sexual expression using the same clinical reasoning we would to support any engagement. It has been suggested, to do this, we can add the concept of supporting sexual expression to our explanation of OT and what we can help support and then allow the patient to lead from there.

There are other models and guidance for discussing sexual expression in academic journals relating to specific areas of practice such as learning disability, nursing homes and rehab that may be of individual benefit.

This does beg the question “what if I don’t feel comfortable”. It is important we recognise our own comfort levels and areas of knowledge to ensure we give the best care to our patients.

If you truly feel you are not the best person to address this with someone that is ok as the information doesn’t have to come from you. It is important we don’t make our patients feel uncomfortable for raising their issues, so take down whatever information you feel comfortable with and signpost to a more appropriate information source or professional.

It is important to note that this article is not advocating working outside of comfort zones or appropriate practice but to highlight an area of practice that we can be involved in. If you are unsure or want clarification before acting then speak with HCPC, RCOT or your workplace for their clarification.You can also enquire about Enhance the UK’s Sexual Expression Training.

Useful Links

Enhance The UK –
The expert team are experienced trainers, enquire about their Disability and Sexual Expression training.
https://enhancetheuk.org/disability-and-sexual-expression-training/

The Health and Care Professionals Council
https://www.hcpc-uk.org/

Royal College of Occupational Therapists
https://www.rcot.co.uk/

The Undressing Disability Hub

Sign up for free to access free resources and network with others working or interested in the field of sex and disability.
https://undressing.enhancetheuk.org/signup

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