This study investigated the realities of people with disabilities living in institutions in Gauteng, South Africa. In-depth interviews were used for people with disabilities and focus groups with service providers.
INTRODUCTION
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
- Research Aim
- Research Objectives
- Research Questions
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- Sampling Technique and Population Sample
- Data Collection and Analysis
- DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
- Sexuality
- Disability
- Disability Discrimination
- Capacity
- Stereotypes
- Service Provider
- Residential Facility
- Sex Education
- Sexual Expression
- Consent
- ETHICALCONSIDERATIONS
- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
- OUTLINE OF THE RESEARCH
Exploring perceptions about the sexuality of people with disabilities from the perspective of service providers; What are the views of service providers regarding the sexuality of people with disabilities.
LITERATURE REVIEW- PART 1
- INTRODUCTION
- MODELS OF DISABILITY
- The Medical Model of Disability
- The Social Model of Disability
- RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
- Purpose and Services Rendered by Residential Care Facilities
- Livelihood of People with Disabilities in Residential Institutions
- Privacy
- Sex Education
- TYPES OF DISABILITIES
- Statistics and Prevalence of Disabilities in South Africa
- Cerebral Palsy
- Intellectual Disability
- CONCLUSION
The uniformity of data collection was compromised, as one of the service providers did not participate in the focus group, but was interviewed individually. However, to ensure the validity and consistency of the findings, the researcher adhered to the exact interview guide that was used for the service users.
LITERATURE REVIEW: PART 2 SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
INTRODUCTION
SEXUALITY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
- Petals of the Flower Model of Sexuality
- Sections of the Flower Model of Sexuality
- Influences of the Flower Model of Sexuality
ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
- Asexual vs Over sexual
- Being Life-long Children
- Inappropriate Sexual Behaviours
- Impact of Negative Attitudes
RELATIONSHIPS AND INTIMACY
SEXUAL HEALTH AND REPRODUCTION
CONCLUSION
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN
SAMPLING PROCEDURE
- First Sample: Persons with disabilities
- Second Sample: Service Providers
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
- In-depth interviews
- Focus groups
- Interpreter
DATA ANALYSIS
PILOT STUDY
RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE STUDY
- Credibility
- Reliability
- Transferability
- Confirmability
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
CONCLUSION
RESEARCH FINDINGS, ANALYASIS AND DISCUSSION
INTRODUCTION
THEMES AND SUBTHEMES
THEME 1: SEXUALITY POLICY
THEME 2: PRIVACY
- Subtheme: Relationship between Service Users and Service Providers
THEME 3: SEX EDUCATION
- Subtheme: Reproductive and Sexual Health Knowledge
THEME 4: ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS ABOUT DISABILITY AND SEXUALITY
- Subtheme: General Views towards People with Disabilities
- Subtheme: Life-long Children
- Subtheme: Self-Esteem
- Subtheme: Asexual versus Over sexual
THEME 5: RELATIONSHIPS
- Subtheme: Dating
- Subtheme: Intimacy or Sexual Relationships
- Subtheme: Relationships with non-disabled people
THEME 6: REPRODUCTION
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate the sexuality of persons with disabilities living in institutions. Two sample groups consisting of eight service users (persons with disabilities) and service providers from the selected institutions were used in the study. Additionally, extensive interviews and focus groups were adopted to validate the findings of this study.
This chapter is a summary of the main findings from the study against the research questions raised in Chapter 1. Furthermore, this chapter provides recommendations on how best service providers and users can work together to improve the sexual health of people with disabilities living in institutions.
FINDINGS
SEXUALITY POLICY DEFICITS
107 about what can be done both in housing facilities and structurally to promote policy change. The quarterly forum meetings for people with disabilities that residential service providers attend could be a regular item on their agenda regarding policies and day-to-day changes and/or performance to promote the sexual expression of service users.
PRIVACY
Service providers indicated incidents where they caught residents 'on maternity leave', in one case a participant had to lie that she was raped for fear of being scolded and judged. This is an extreme example of the result of sexual expression being prohibited in the institutions.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION IN INSTITUTIONS
- Service Providers Training and Education
- Sex Education for Service Users
- Improved Decision Making and Self-Protection Skills
- Increased Skills for Enhanced Community Participation
For a long time, people with disabilities have occupied marginal positions in society, and their sexuality has been considered unimportant but taboo. Researchers such as McCabe and Taleporos (2003) support this view that people with physical disabilities have lower self-esteem regarding their sexuality because of their physical appearance. The researcher believes that sexual health programs should be individually tailored to suit all disabilities, especially people with low mental capacity.
Sex education can also help people with disabilities with crucial social etiquette and self-care skills. Gomez (2012) also states that if people with disabilities receive information about their sexuality, they will be able to distinguish between what is socially acceptable and what is not when it comes to sexual expression. Sex education is essential because it provides people with disabilities with comprehensive information about sexuality and will help them have safe and positive sexual expression as well as healthy intimate relationships.
Andersson (2010) argues that the primary sexual experience people with disabilities have is through sexual assault. Education has been widely recognized as a mechanism to reduce vulnerability to sexual abuse, so young people with disabilities need to be equipped with life skills to distinguish between love and abuse, appropriate and inappropriate touch and so on.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
- Availability and Accessibility of Sexual Health Services
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there are four interrelated reproductive rights. People with disabilities who live in institutions and want to marry and have children should be given the opportunity to do so and be provided with alternative housing (UNCRPD, Article 23). It should be possible for service users who choose to start their own family or share a double room to do so.
This also applies to those who live with their families, they should be involved in making decisions about their reproductive rights, taking into account their capacities. Information should be provided to service providers in the disability sectors so that they are able to teach service users about topics such as puberty, contraception, reproduction and healthy relationships to support people with disabilities. limited. This provision of information should reflect the needs of different communities; this includes teenagers, adults, people with.
Health professionals need training to support persons with disabilities, so clinics must be accessible and accommodating for everyone, including wheelchair users. For example, there must be provision for the blind, rails and ramps for wheelchair and crutch users - this shows inclusion and non-discrimination towards people with disabilities.
DECONSTRUCTION OF LABELS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
- Life-Long Children
The White Paper on the Rights of People with Disabilities (2015) advocates universal access for all children with disabilities in mainstream schools, so that they can have equal opportunities with their non-disabled peers. Another misconception and labeling is about infantilization of adults with disabilities that needs to be addressed. Findings from the study revealed that service providers referred service users even though they were adults as children, a phenomenon common to most adults with disabilities.
People with disabilities should have a fair opportunity to actually be considered adults or make adult decisions regarding their sexuality, as no one would ever let a child be involved in sexual activities. A change to such labels will thus pave the way for respect for the privacy and expression of sexuality of persons with disabilities. To this end, people with disabilities should have the right tools to manage their own risks, which includes getting hurt.
They felt that disabled people were more vulnerable than non-disabled people and that they should find partners who also have disabilities or not date at all. This can actually be achieved if service providers refrain from considering adult service users as children, but as adults and as sexual beings like everyone else.
DISABILITY AWARENESS PROGRAMMES
In this way, disabled people are aware that their needs are real and that their sense of worth is important. 117 Most service users indicated that people assume that all wheelchair users want to be pushed or assisted, which may not be the case all the time, so such assumptions may not be learned through awareness of the ability of wheelchair users. limited. This can be achieved by educating the community, in clinics, schools, public gatherings and so on.
Through disability sensitization, communities also gain knowledge of the appropriate terminology to use to avoid offending anyone. An example is using words like handicapped, disabled, crippled, "these people" when referring to people with disabilities. The researcher believes that the more characters with disabilities the public sees on television or magazines, the more they may understand disabilities.
Also, people with disabilities should form forums with other people with disabilities for conscience building so that they can immunize themselves against negative attitudes.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
CONCLUSION
Toward a healthy sex life: an introduction to the special series on the sexuality of people with developmental disabilities. A review of the principle of normalization as it applies to the sexual preferences of people with learning disabilities. Attitudes towards the sexuality of adults with intellectual disabilities: parents, support staff and a community champion.
British Journal of Learning Disabilities Intellectual disability and sexuality: attitudes of disability support staff and leisure industry employees. Barriers to developing intimate relationships and expressing sexuality among people with developmental disabilities: their perceptions. Review of the literature prepared for the National Advisory Committee on Health and Disability to inform its project on services for adults with an intellectual disability.
The Sexual Experiences and Responsiveness Inventory in Disabilities (IEReSDi): construction and validation of the Sexual Responsiveness Scale in People with Disabilities. Thematic Group on Violence against Children with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/PDFs/UNICEF_Violence Against Children with Disabilities Report 29.
INFORMED CONSENT
There will be no rewards for participating, nor will there be any negative consequences if you choose to withdraw. If you feel upset during or after the interview, you can let the researcher know and ask for support. If you are ready to be interviewed, please indicate by ticking whether you are ready to be recorded by the following equipment:.
For any queries before, during and after the interview, you can contact me at OR notify the management at the Home for any queries or assistance you may need during the interview. Full names of participant) hereby confirm that I understand the content of this document and the nature of the research project, and I agree to participate in the research project. I understand that I am free to withdraw from the project at any time, should I so desire.
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
If you don't want sex, how do you convey that to the person who does want sex.
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS
What is your understanding of sex education and its importance to the people in your institution? What do you think about the belief that people with disabilities are oversexed or asexual?
GATEKEEPER CONSENT LETTER 1
GATEKEEPER CONSENT LETTER 2
ETHICAL CLEARANCE LETTER
This letter serves as confirmation that the Home Management Committee has given you permission to complete your studies with us. I have spoken to the resident8 and the staff, who they would like to participate in the discussions. All stakeholders have been consulted and are all happy to participate in the research study.
Management - look forward to working with you during your studies and will provide any assistance you may need throughout the process.
