Final report of the Bawnmore Personal Development Programme: staff attitudes and sexuality programme development in an Irish service organisation for people with mental handicap

In this paper, issues on sexuality and mental handicap are reviewed, and recognition of the growing importance of sex education to integration is noted. The development of a sex education programme and staff training provided within a service organisation, with some involvement from other services within an Irish setting, are described, and their evaluation is reported. Attitudes towards involvement prove of particular interest, and factors influencing continuation or discontinuation are identified. The need for attitude change among staff and administration towards the priority given to sex education is highlighted, and a need for structural change in staffing arrangements to facilitate such education is indicated. Failure to recognise sexuality as a research issue in evaluating the success of integration efforts is noted, and such research is recommended as a top priority for the future.