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The Perceptions and Attitudes of Undergraduate Students in Health-Related Fields Toward the Sexuality of Disabled People in Canada

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes of Canadian undergraduate students in health-related fields of study regarding the sexuality of disabled people. More specifically, we examine what is being taught to undergraduate students regarding the sexuality of disabled people, the sources of information that students rely upon to learn about this topic, and the current attitudes that these students hold. A modified version of the Attitudes to Sexuality Questionnaire was completed by 156 healthcare students from 30 different Canadian post-secondary institutions. Data analysis revealed that participants generally held non-restrictive views about parenting, sexual rights, non-reproductive sexual behavior, and sexual self-control of people with disabilities; however, over half of the participants noted that their post-secondary curriculum did not provide them with enough information regarding disability and sexuality. The results of this study speak to the need for more information about the sexuality of disabled people in healthcare education curricula.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Alan Santinele Martino & Kayley Schnare

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Erin Brennand

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  1. Alan Santinele Martino
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  2. Erin Brennand
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  3. Kayley Schnare
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Alan Santinele Martino, Erin Brennand and Kayley Schnare. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Alan Santinele Martino] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alan Santinele Martino.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics Approval

Ethics approval was granted by the University of Calgary’s Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Santinele Martino, A., Brennand, E. & Schnare, K. The Perceptions and Attitudes of Undergraduate Students in Health-Related Fields Toward the Sexuality of Disabled People in Canada. Sex Disabil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-024-09852-z

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