Sexuality, aging, and the education of health professionals

Expansion of medical personnel's knowledge of sexuality, especially for the aged, has progressed minimally from 1950s' tendencies toward avoiding the topic or fatalism in reflecting on it. Some progress has been made from past emphases on "plumbing" and most medical schools now provide at least some course work on sexuality. A reality of inconsistent content and teaching methodology persists, however, and its product is still widely viewed by sexuality educators as inadequate. This paper reviews research on academic programs preparing medical and health professionals for dealing with issues of sexuality.