Document Type (Journals)
Original Research
Abstract
Sexuality is a valuable activity of daily living that contributes to an individual’s quality of life. Although sexuality can be addressed in occupational therapy practice, it is often overlooked due to a lack of time, comfort, and knowledge. For sexuality content to be fully incorporated into practice, it has been suggested that education will facilitate the inclusion of sexuality topics into occupational therapy practice. The purpose of this survey study was to assess occupational therapy faculty and students’ perceived competence with addressing sexuality, to determine the methods of sexuality education, and the time spent on the topic in occupational therapy curriculums. A piloted 13-question survey was electronically mailed to program directors of accredited occupational therapy programs in the United States for them to forward to their faculty and students. The survey was available for four weeks, with a reminder sent at the two-week mark. Data was collected from Qualtrics at the end of the response window and themed by the occupational therapy doctoral student and the faculty mentor. A majority of faculty felt competent addressing sexuality (76%) and a majority of students felt neutral (34%) about discussing sexuality with their future clients. The most frequently reported amount of time being spent on sexuality topic education was one to two hours (41%). A majority of respondents felt that sexuality is an essential topic and should be incorporated into occupational therapy curriculums further.
Biography
Reba Duran, OTD/S is an occupational therapy doctoral student at Gannon University in Ruskin, Florida who completed this survey research study as her capstone project.
Kristin Valdes, OTD, OTR, CHT is an associate professor of occupational therapy at Gannon University in Ruskin, FL. She is the Capstone Coordinator of the program.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Duran, R. R., & Valdes, K. A. (2021). Sexuality Within Occupational Therapy Education: Assessing Faculty and Student Perceived Competence. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2021.050105
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