The Renal Social Workers' Perspective: Attitude, Behaviors, and Barriers to Sexual Health Inclusion

Sexual health, an important factor of perceived wellness and quality of life, is adversely impacted by renal disease and treatment. The social worker is uniquely positioned on the renal clinical care team to address sexual health. There is a dearth of literature on renal care and sexual health, and no national study on whether or how sexual health is being addressed in renal care planning by the social worker. This qualitative case study was aimed at exploring the attitudes, behaviors, and perceived barriers based on the lived experiences of renal social workers in incorporating sexual health assessments into routine renal care planning. First, a renal qualifier questionnaire, powered by Qualtrics, was sent to all nationally affiliated Council of Nephrology Social Worker email lists. Next, strategic sampling from the questionnaire volunteer pool was used to host a virtual focus group with four social workers and five individual interviews. Finally, a rigorous thematic analysis of the focus group and interview transcripts, and the researcher field notes conducted using NVivo 15. All the questionnaire respondents (N=14) expressed value to sexual health inclusion and favorability to adding it into routine care planning. Six Themes Emerged. The frequency of routine sexual health assessments varied based on the social worker’s comfort level with the topic, the interdisciplinary team involvement in sexual health acknowledgement, the consulting environment, and whether the social worker was knowledgeable of or if there were available avenues for intervention for sexual health education and services.