Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108674

Mitchell Tepper, PhD, MPH, Kelly Ace, PhD, JD, and Annette Owens, MD, PhD. The Sexual Health Network, 3 Mayflower Lane, Shelton, CT 06484, 203-924-4623, mitch@sexualhealth.com

Sexual dysfunction and disorders often have physiological and psychological roots that are often left undiagnosed. Sufferers are often left utilizing Internet, library, and other resources to diagnose and treat themselves. The current standard of practice has obvious pitfalls. The presentation will detail the development and evaluation of an interactive web based Sexual Health Therapeutic Learning Program (SHTLP) funded by an NIH SBIR Phase I grant. The SHTLP provides individuals with mobility impairments (MI Group) resulting from spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, polio, and stroke with individually tailored educational information regarding their sexual health and treatment options. The technology is an online health decision support tool that matches condition-specific data including demography, medical diagnosis, co-morbidity, lifestyle and psycho-social indicators gathered via an online questionnaire against an evidence based treatment outcome algorithm developed by an expert Medical Advisory Board with input and guidance on user issues from a Consumer Advisory Board. The technology allows the SHTLP to deliver information that is: a) decision-focused, b) evidence based, c) approved by experts in both the fields of disability and sexuality, d) cross-referenced and current, and e) easily accessible and privately useable by the MI Group. The specific aims of Phase I were to develop: a treatment options algorithm; an online questionnaire that accurately assesses the primary, secondary, and tertiary sexual dysfunctions, and; a prototype SHP that matches condition-specific data gathered via the online questionnaire with evidence based education and treatment options.

Learning Objectives:

• List 3 advantages of integrating the Internet into the delivery of sexual health care for people with disabilities.
• Describe how the SHTLP meets end-user requirements of reliable information, specialized information, and privacy.
• List 3 possible benefits of using the SHTLP.

Keywords: Sexuality, Reproductive Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NICHD Grant Number 1 R43 HD45071-01A1, which is an SBIR grant to my company that is intended to supprort reseach that will lead to successful commercialization..

Recorded presentation