Addressing the elephant in the room: integrating sexual health practice in spinal cord injury rehabilitation

Purpose Sexual health, a basic human right, maybe disrupted after a spinal cord injury (SCI) and is often not addressed in rehabilitation. This quality improvement initiative embedded sexual health education and support for patients with SCI into clinical practice. Materials and methods In 2017-2018 a team of clinicians, researchers and persons with SCI developed and implemented a new sexual health practice in SCI rehabilitation. A systematic process was undertaken which included implementation science principles; the PLISSIT model and Sexual Rehabilitation Framework were foundational to the new practice. Results Adult inpatients with SCI began receiving the sexual health practice in June 2018. After 6 months, patient and health care provider surveys were conducted. Patients reported increased awareness of sexual health resources and increased satisfaction with sexual health concerns being addressed. Clinicians reported increased comfort in addressing patients' sexual health concerns and increased awareness of sexual health resources. Conclusions Embedding the new sexual health practice facilitates the reintegration of sexual health into the daily lives of SCI patients and supports a more comprehensive and holistic rehabilitation. It normalizes sexual health concerns and questions in an SCI rehabilitation facility.