TY - JOUR
T1 - Communication practices in conversations about sexual health in medical healthcare settings: A systematic review
AU - Kelder, Irene
AU - Sneijder, Petra
AU - Klarenbeek, Annette
AU - Laan, Ellen
N1 - Funding Information: The authors wish to thank Tineke van der Meer and Jurgen Mollema for their help in designing the search strategy, and Charlotte Albury for sharing the checklist for Conversation Analysis reporting. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Objective: Many healthcare professionals experience difficulties in discussing sexual health with their patients. The aim of this review was to synthesize results of studies on communication practices in interactions about sexual health in medical settings, to offer healthcare professionals suggestions on how to communicate about this topic. Methods: We searched for studies using five databases. Reference lists and specialist bibliographies were searched to identify additional studies. We included discourse analytic studies that used recordings of medical consultations. Results: We identified five studies that met the inclusion criteria. Findings were synthesized into seven categories of practices deployed by patients and healthcare professionals when talking about sexual health: avoiding delicate terms (1), delaying potentially delicate words and issues (2), using assumptive talk (3), generalized advice-giving (4), deploying patients’ talk (5), depersonalization (6), and patient-initiated advice (7). Conclusion: Practices indicate the delicacy associated with discussing sexual health issues, but results also shed light on practices that can help professionals to deal with this delicacy, and to be responsive to patients’ needs and concerns. Practice implications: Findings will assist healthcare professionals in broaching topics related to sexual health so they can help patients deal with challenges that affect their sexual health and overall well-being.
AB - Objective: Many healthcare professionals experience difficulties in discussing sexual health with their patients. The aim of this review was to synthesize results of studies on communication practices in interactions about sexual health in medical settings, to offer healthcare professionals suggestions on how to communicate about this topic. Methods: We searched for studies using five databases. Reference lists and specialist bibliographies were searched to identify additional studies. We included discourse analytic studies that used recordings of medical consultations. Results: We identified five studies that met the inclusion criteria. Findings were synthesized into seven categories of practices deployed by patients and healthcare professionals when talking about sexual health: avoiding delicate terms (1), delaying potentially delicate words and issues (2), using assumptive talk (3), generalized advice-giving (4), deploying patients’ talk (5), depersonalization (6), and patient-initiated advice (7). Conclusion: Practices indicate the delicacy associated with discussing sexual health issues, but results also shed light on practices that can help professionals to deal with this delicacy, and to be responsive to patients’ needs and concerns. Practice implications: Findings will assist healthcare professionals in broaching topics related to sexual health so they can help patients deal with challenges that affect their sexual health and overall well-being.
KW - Communication practices
KW - Discourse analysis
KW - Healthcare professionals
KW - Sexual health
KW - Systematic review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112632920&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.049
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.049
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34366226
SN - 0738-3991
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
ER -