Sexual functioning as a topic in occupational therapy training: a survey of programs

To investigate the current status of sex education in occupational therapy curricula, a questionnaire survey was mailed to department chairs of 67 university programs that were either accredited or in the application process. A total of 50 programs returned usable responses. The results indicate that occupational therapy may be in a transition period: A significant minority of the respondents were either undecided about or against including sexual functioning in occupational therapy, but the majority were of the opinion that the patient's sexual functioning is an important domain of occupational therapy practice. A high percentage of programs reported that instructional time was being devoted to the basics of sexual functioning, but programs varied considerably in the amount of time allocated for this topic.