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The Content, Usefulness and Usability of Sexual Knowledge Assessment Tools for People with Intellectual Disability

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Abstract

Many people with intellectual disability have limited sexual knowledge. Several assessment tools have been developed to assess the sexual knowledge of people with intellectual disability. This paper examines clinicians’ perspective on the usefulness and usability of these tools. This research uses a constructionist grounded theory approach. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with clinicians who use sexual knowledge assessment tools. To provide a context for clinicians’ comments about these tools, this paper also provides a content analysis of six sexual knowledge assessment tools. Several themes emerged from the interview data; (a) clinicians want to use sexual knowledge assessment tools to support their work, (b) clinicians want more guidance in relation to administering these tools, and (c) clinicians have concerns about the usefulness and usability of sexual knowledge assessment tools.

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Acknowledgements

This research was mostly conducted without funding, except for a small amount of Postgraduate Research Support Scheme funding from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Health Sciences, which was used for professional transcription of recorded interviews. There was no restriction on free access to or publication of research data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Health Science, The University of Sydney, P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW, 1825, Australia

    Vanessa R. Thompson & Roger J. Stancliffe

  2. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Nathan J. Wilson

  3. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Alex Broom

Authors
  1. Vanessa R. Thompson
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  2. Roger J. Stancliffe
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  3. Nathan J. Wilson
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  4. Alex Broom
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Correspondence to Roger J. Stancliffe.

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Thompson, V.R., Stancliffe, R.J., Wilson, N.J. et al. The Content, Usefulness and Usability of Sexual Knowledge Assessment Tools for People with Intellectual Disability. Sex Disabil 34, 495–512 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-016-9458-4

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