Let's talk about sex: A feminist poststructural approach to addressing sexual health in the healthcare setting

AbstractAims and objectivesTo explore the use of feminist poststructuralism (FPS) as a way to critique, understand and improve sexual health care and policy in healthcare settings.BackgroundSexual health is an important aspect of health; however, in healthcare settings, it often goes unaddressed by both healthcare providers and patients due to stigma, taboo, fear of embarrassment or uncertainty. Lack of attention to sexual health has been stated as a legitimate concern for patients across the lifespan; there remain gaps in implementing sexual health care discussions into practice in healthcare settings.DesignA critical analysis will be presented to explore sexual health care and attitudes in the healthcare setting from patient and nursing perspectives using FPS.MethodsFeminist poststructuralism is used to examine the meaning of experience that is personally, socially and institutionally constructed through relations of power. FPS will also be applied to understand how sexual health discourses are negotiated in healthcare settings. SQUIRE guidelines were used in the preparation of this paper (See Appendix S1).Relevance to clinical practiceThe application of a feminist poststructural lens to sexual health care in healthcare settings may be used by healthcare professionals to understand, question and challenge how social and institutional beliefs, values and practices surrounding sexual health, inclusive of a patient's sexual pleasure or sexual activity, are experienced by healt...
Source: Journal of Clinical Nursing - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: DISCURSIVE PAPER Source Type: research