Abstract/Summary

Spinal cord injury can affect sexual functioning and sa- tisfaction. However, support for sex is often overlooked in spinal injury rehabilitation. Healthcare professionals can feel uncomfortable, and lack confidence and training to address this with patients. There is a need to gain insight into what enables healthcare professionals to deliver better support for sexual wellbeing, and what limits them. Knowing what helps or hinders professio- nals in working with sexual issues after spinal cord injury would enable growth and development in tailored reha- bilitation services. The aim of this study was to identify how healthcare professionals see the challenges facing sexual rehabilitation, focusing on issues that may affect the sexual functioning and satisfaction of patients. The results showed that healthcare professionals are concer- ned about the absence of professional support for sexu- ality in their rehabilitation services, they felt embarras- sed when addressing sex, they felt they lacked specialist training, and had limited resources and materials to work from. Programmes are needed that provide edu- cation and psychological support for people with spinal cord injury who want to maintain sexual engagement and, critically, this requires improvements in knowledge and skills for the healthcare professionals who are provi- ding spinal cord injury rehabilitation.