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Sexuality and personal relationships for people with an intellectual disability. Part II: staff and family carer perspectives
Author(s) -
Evans D. S.,
McGuire B. E.,
Healy E.,
Carley S. N.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2009.01202.x
Subject(s) - human sexuality , ideology , service (business) , psychology , intellectual disability , preference , nursing , social psychology , medicine , psychiatry , gender studies , sociology , politics , political science , law , economics , microeconomics , economy
Background Recent ideological shifts in service provision promote appropriate sexual expression for people with an intellectual disability (ID), although there is little evidence that such advances in ideology are matched by current service provision. Part II of the current two‐part study assessed the attitudes of staff and family carers to the sexuality of people with an ID. Method A questionnaire survey which included case scenarios was carried out with family ( n = 155) and staff carers ( n = 153) of people with an ID in the west of Ireland. Results In general, staff carers were more inclined than family carers to openly discuss issues of sexuality with service users, and to suggest environmental, rather than service‐user characteristics, as impediments to such discussions. Attitudinal differences emerged with significant differences between staff and family carers and between younger and older carers. Staff carers were more likely to support service‐user engagement in intimate and non‐intimate relationships whereas the majority of family carers (80%) showed a preference for low levels of intimacy in service‐user relationships. Conclusion When compared with the attitudes of family carers towards the sexuality of people with ID, the attitudes of staff carers more closely match those promoted by ideological developments. However, differences in attitudes between carer groups may lead to inconsistent approaches to the management of sexuality. As a consequence, we conclude that there is continued need to provide staff and family carers with opportunities for dialogue and an ongoing need for training in the area of sexuality.