An assessment of occupational therapists' roles and attitudes toward sexual rehabilitation of the disabled.

Sexual adjustment is believed to be a fundamental aspect of the medical and psychosocial rehabilitation of the disabled and chronically ill. A sample of 26 occupational therapists involved in adult rehabilitation services were given a list of specific tasks identified in the literature to be related to medical (physical) aspects of sexual rehabilitation. The results indicated that a small percentage of occupational therapists participate in these tasks. The majority believed that the tasks were important in occupational therapy but that their preparation to perform the tasks was inadequate. The subjects, as a group, held positive attitudes toward sexual rehabilitation and considered it a legitimate aspect of health care for which an appropriate content should be integrated into the basic curricula in occupational therapy.