Perception of nursing professionals on the assessment of sexuality in older adults (Chile)

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to know the perception of the nursing professionals about the assessment of the sexuality of the elderly in primary health care. To this end, a qualitative study has been proposed with an approach based on chosen for convenience and based on criteria such as graduates from public or private universities with a minimum of 2 years of work, currently working in APS, professional graduates of nursing-obstetrics were excluded, to have an attached career in obstetrics and not to work in APS. Four main categories are established which are "meaning that professionals attribute to sexuality", "relevance of sexuality in older adults", "influential factors in the assessment of sexuality", "professional strengths and weaknesses in assessment" In addition, two emergent categories appear, which are "factors to be improved by valuing sexuality" and "the need for an instrument to assess sexuality". It establishes that sexuality is a vital element in the health of older adults influenced strictly by cultural and social factors, in addition to the growing need for an instrument that allows to value sexuality and technical orientations at the ministerial level.