Sexuality,aging, and the education of health professionals

Expansion of medical personnel's knowledge of sexuality, especially for the aged, has progressed minimally from 1950s' tendencies toward avoiding the topic or fatalism in reflecting on it. Some progress has been made from past emphases on “plumbing” and most medical schools now provide at least some course work on sexuality. A reality of inconsistent content and teaching methodology persists, however, and its product is still widely viewed by sexuality educators as inadequate. This paper reviews research on academic programs preparing medical and health professionals for dealing with issues of sexuality.     

Teachers’ conflicting cultural schemas of teaching comprehensive school-based sexuality education in Kampala,Uganda

Teachers can feel uncomfortable teaching sexuality education when the content conflicts with their cultural values and beliefs. However, more research is required to understand how to resolve conflicts between teachers’ values and beliefs and those implicit in comprehensive approaches to sexuality education. This study uses cultural schema theory to identify teachers’ cultural schemas of teaching sexuality education and the internal conflicts arising between them. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 secondary school teachers in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Embedded in a context of morality, conflicting cultural schemas of sexuality education and young people’s sexual citizenship in traditional and present-day Ugandan society were found: young people are both innocent and sexually active; sexuality education both encourages and prevents sexual activity; and teachers need to teach sexuality education, but it is considered immoral for them to do so. In countries such as Uganda, supportive school regulations and a mandate from society could help teachers feel more comfortable adopting comprehensive approaches to sexuality education.     

High School Health‐Education Teachers' Perceptions and Practices Related to Teaching HIV Prevention

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS is one of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States with individuals between the ages of 13 and 19 years being especially vulnerable for infection. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes, perceptions, and instructional practices of high school health teachers toward teaching HIV prevention. METHODS: A total of 800 surveys were sent to a national random sample of high school health teachers and 50% responded. RESULTS: There was almost complete agreement (99%) among respondents that HIV prevention instruction is needed. The factors that emerged as significantly influencing the attitudes and perceptions of high school health teachers about teaching HIV prevention were related to teacher preparation, training, and years of experience teaching health education. A state mandate requiring HIV prevention instruction was significantly associated with higher teacher efficacy expectations and more perceived benefits, but did not have a significant influence in relation to practices in the classroom. Characteristics of high school health teachers that were significantly related to attitudes, perceptions, and instructional practices included the instructor's age, sex, and race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: High school health teachers who reported the least experience teaching health education had the least supportive attitudes, perceived the most barriers, and had the lowest efficacy and outcome expectations related to teaching about HIV prevention. Whereas these findings support the importance of teacher preparation and training, they also suggest that more recent college graduates may not be fully prepared to provide effective instruction in HIV prevention.     

Early Childhood Teacher Education Programs: Is a 0-8 Focus Feasible?

This paper addresses whether early childhood teacher education programs can prepare graduates effectively to work with children across the entire 0-8 years span by profiling two student teachers about to graduate from a generalist (0-8) Australian preservice program. Data from these student teachers' final practicums, undertaken immediately prior to graduation, suggest that generalist programs can offer effective preparation for entry into trie early childhood teaching profession.     

Working With Non-Dental Groups to Influence Adoption of Self-Applied Fluoride Programs in Schools: One Approach

Although the use of self-applied fluorides in schools has been proven safe and effective, thousands of children are not benefiting from these procedures. This paper describes a dual promotional approach designed to increase the awareness of the need for school-based self-applied fluoride programs. A manned exhibit providing consultation and educational materials was displayed during the entire meeting of a state PTA and was supplemented by a presentation scheduled on the formal program. The workshop participants were parents of school-age children; most held decision-making positions in their local PTAs. Results of the workshop to date include: one participant prevented the demise of an established fluoride mouthrinsing program in her community; and the workshop leaders presented the merits of school-based self-applied fluoride programs to a local PTA and a county school health council. The same programs were described in a county PTA newsletter. These actions suggest that, given the appropriate information and assistance, parents of school children through their PTA can influence adoption of school-based fluoride programs. Furthermore, strategies directed toward members of other groups with an interest and decision-making role in children's health may be effective methods of influencing adoption of school-based self-applied fluoride programs and ultimately promoting children's oral health.     

Multicultural Training in the United States: A Survey of Occupational Therapy Programs

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to describe multicultural training practices in occupational therapy programs. A survey was sent to occupational therapy programs in the United States to gather information on multicultural content, skills, and teaching methods as well as diversity context and challenges. The response rate was 54%. The most frequently covered multicultural content was related to cultural background and sociopolitical factors. Multicultural skills covered most often were practice oriented and interpersonal skills. Teaching methods reported as used most often differed from the methods thought by the respondents to be most effective. Programs reported multiple challenges to multicultural training including lack of time and lack of diversity in the student body, faculty, and environment. Results suggest that educators may need to expand multicultural content and skills to prepare occupational therapy students for providing care in increasingly diverse practice settings. In addition, increased use of teaching methods that focus on exposure to diverse populations and reflection may be needed to improve the effectiveness of multicultural training in occupational therapy programs.     

Use of Sexually Explicit Films in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Programs

Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) seminars, popular in the 1970s for use in progressive spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation programs, have lost favor. The practice, however, of using only one sexually explicit film (SEF) as the primary method of providing sexuality education has taken its place. The use of SEFs is a sensitive teaching issue. Used properly, a SEF may facilitate a more receptive attitude toward sexuality and SCI. Used inappropriately, a SEF may result in adverse reactions. This paper reviews the theoretical rationale for using SEFs, the traditional use of SEFs in SARs that focus on attitudes and values, and empirical studies of the use of SEF. Recommendation is made for a paradigm shift from a general focus on changing attitudes and values to a more targeted focus on improving judgments of self-efficacy when using one SEF. Theoretical support is given based on observational learning and social cognitive theory.     

Providing Comprehensive Sexual Health Care in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation: Implementation and Evaluation of a New Curriculum for Health Care Professionals

A grant from the Paralyzed Veterans of America funded the development, implementation, and evaluation of a three-day interdisciplinary continuing education and training program in comprehensive sexual health care. The program was targeted toward health care professionals working in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. The major goal of the program was to offer participants an opportunity to increase the knowledge, comfort, and skills necessary to understand and manage the sexual health care needs of people with SCI. The curriculum included clearly stated goals, behavioral objectives in operational terms, and multiple quantitative and qualitative program evaluations. In addition, the comprehensive curriculum incorporated extensive skills training including state-of-the-art standardized patient training techniques. Evaluation results indicated statistically significant and qualitatively important positive gains in knowledge, comfort, and skills. The five month follow-up study indicated that skills learned over the three-day workshop were successfully transferred to the work environment.     

某高职院校教师健康状况调查及其对策研究

目的针对某高职院校教师健康状况及体育锻炼行为的调查分析,提出高职教师健康教育及健康促进对策,为保障教师身体健康提供依据和指导。方法采用问卷调查法、医学检测法对某高职院校1 106名教师的健康状况及体育锻炼行为进行调查,并采用SPSS软件包进行统计分析。结果该高职院校教师的主要健康问题,如高血脂、脂肪肝、超重和肥胖均与体育锻炼行为密切相关,不同锻炼行为的高血脂、脂肪肝、超重和肥胖发生率比较均有显著差异（χ2值分别为3.89、27.39和230.72,P〈0.05）。结论制定科学的健康教育处方,加强健康教育与健康促进是保障高职院校教师身体健康的关键。     

Training teachers to implement a school oral health education programme in Tanzania

Tanzania has a national programme for oral health educationwhich is implemented by teachers at primary school level. Mostteachers are not trained for this task and they have low abilitiesand willingness for it. In this study, the oral health educationsessions conducted by teachers at school were observed to bedeficient in content and in methods, addressing only toothbrushingin theory. Thus, a training model for the teachers was designed,implemented and evaluated, that was based on the teachers' trainingneeds and other local conditions. A simple oral health educationmanual was designed to answer the educational needs of the pupils,and using it as a framework, all 125 teachers involved in schooloral health education in one district were trained in workshops.These were conducted by dental personnel in cooperation withschool administrators. For comparison, a sample of primary schoolteachers in an adjacent district were provided with the oralhealth education manual for self-learning without workshop training.Evaluation done 2 months afterwards revealed that the teacherstrained in workshops, but not those who had studied the manualalone, had improved remarkably the quality of their oral healtheducation sessions. The new sessions taught both the conceptsand the skills of oral health care in a manner that activelyinvolved the pupils in the learning process. This action studydone in a Third World setting reveals the need for evaluationand support of the implementation of school oral health education,and demonstrates a feasible and effective means for doing it.     

萨提亚家庭治疗模式在幼师心理辅导中的应用

目的 研究萨提亚家庭治疗模式对幼师心理健康的干预效果,为幼师心理辅导机制提供新的支持思路和实践途径.方法 采用症状自评量表(SCL-90)对山东省济南市6所幼儿园137名教师心理健康状况进行测试.选取筛选阳性的被试36名,随机分为干预组、对照组.干预组进行萨提亚模式的团体心理咨询,对照组除与干预组同时会见研究人员外不进...     

Governing couple-sexuality: publically funded couples' courses in Norway

This paper analyses the construction of Norwegian couples' sexuality through the study of a publically financed and organised relationship course called Living Well Together (Godt Samliv). Established in 2005, this relationship course aimed at first-time parent couples is offered free of charge by municipal health centres. Scrutiny of national policy documents and political debate and of the course handbooks presented to couples, makes visible a particular Norwegian discourse on sexuality, which stresses gender equality and neutrality and ideas of inclusive democratization. New parents are advised to make active efforts to maintain a loving, lasting relationship and sexuality, for the sake of the children. The idea of sex implied by this couples relationship policy is based on what might be described as a ‘duty of spontaneity’, presented as a work both parents should undertake in order to achieve a stable and healthy relationship. We argue, however, that the inclusive rhetoric of diversity that characterises this public form of Norwegian sexuality has its limitations and that certain forms of intimacy and sexuality are excluded from this discourse.     

Understanding of Sexuality and Reproductive Health Among Women With and Without Physical Disabilities

This study compares differences in how women with disabilities and women without disabilities learned about their sexuality and reproductive functioning. A written questionnaire was sent to a national sample of women with disabilities and their non-disabled woman friends recruited through independent living centers and announcements in the media. Responses were received from 504 women with disabilities and 442 women without disabilities. Participants were asked how old they were when they first learned about the physical aspects of sexual intercourse. Women with disabilities learned about the physical aspects of sexual intercourse at about the same age (M = 13.16) as women without disabilities (M = 12.93). The most commonly reported sources for learning about sexuality and sexual functioning for both groups were books and other printed material, having sex, partners, friends, and teachers in primary school. More women with disabilities received information from a woman with a disability and a rehabilitation counselor. Women in both groups indicated that sex was never or seldom the subject of general family conversation. On average the women with physical disabilities had their first date at age 16.6, which is later than women without physical disabilities (M = 14.91). Women with physical disabilities who reported having acquired sexuality information at a later age reported having sexual intercourse at an older age (M = 20.37) than women without physical disabilities (M = 17.75). Age at acquiring sexuality information was neither associated with frequency of intimate touch nor frequency of sexual intercourse. The results of this study can be used to generate recommendations for health care professionals concerning ways to respond more effectively to the special needs for sexuality information of physically disabled women.