Sexual health and intellectual disability: A narrative literature review and its implications for nursing practice

Research
By Pierre Pariseau-Legault, Dave Holmes
English

Issues associated with affectivity and sexuality in the context of intellectual disability have recently been the subject of various interdisciplinary discussions in academia. In nursing, interventions in sexual health are supported with hesitation and those issues constitute a marginal field of nursing research. A narrative literature review was carried out in order to establish a portrait of the knowledge produced on this topic in the last decade. This paper illustrates three specific recently developed research areas: issues related to sexual autonomy; contextual factors positively or negatively contributing to emotional and sexual life; and the experiences of people identified as having an intellectual disability in this regard. On the basis of these results, different issues related to sexuality and intellectual disability are discussed, including those associated with the negotiation process of affective and sexual life, parenthood as a mediator of emotional and sexual expression, and the inclusiveness issues of sexual diversity in health interventions. Implications for nursing are finally discussed in light of the recent development of its role in sexual health.

Keywords

  • sexuality
  • intellectual disability
  • review literature
  • patient rights
  • nursing
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