Sexual health in pediatric populations: An occupational justice perspective

This educational paper seeks out to explore the connection of occupational justice and sexual health in pediatric populations. Occupational justice is a principle which is fundamentally connected to the promotion of sexual health with the fulfillment of sexual health representing sexual rights (World Health Organization, 2020). While there is a clear link between occupational therapy practice and sexual health, many OT practitioners are not comfortable addressing the topic in practice, especially in pediatric settings (Mc Grath & Sakellariou, 2016). Addressing sexual health within pediatrics is critical as 8-9% of youth with disabilities experience sexual violence across the globe, with children with intellectual disabilities being at a higher risk (Jones et al., 2012). Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities may acquire less sexual knowledge than their non-disabled peers (Jahoda & Pownall, 2014). The limited knowledge surrounding sexual health may lead to confusion, shame, and anxiety about sexual feelings and sexual expression (Jahoda & Pownall, 2014). The lack of appropriate sexual health education for youth may lead to occupational marginalization, in which individuals do not have the opportunity to participate in occupations or make choices related to participation in occupations (Stadnyk et al., 2010). OT practitioners have the skill set and intervention approaches such as health promotion, remediation, modification, and prevention to enhance the performance in occupations related to sexual health. OT practitioners should advocate for these services to improve the health and well-being of the youth and to limit occupational marginalization. References Jahoda, A., & Pownall, J. (2014). Sexual understanding, sources of information and social networks; the reports of young people with intellectual disabilities and their non-disabled peers. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 58(5), 430-441. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12040 Jones, L. M., Bellis, M. A., Wood, S., Hughes, K., McCoy, E., Eckley, L., Bates, G., Mikton, C.,