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ARTICLE INFO
Article History:
Received: 9 Oct. 2016
Accepted: 7 Jan. 2017
ePublished: 7 Jan. 2018
Keywords:
Sexual health, Professional capacity building, Systematic review, Iran
Abstract
Background: Professional capacity building (PCB) is the focus point in health-related subjects. The present study was conducted to systematically review the existing sexual health training modules for health care providers.
Methods: The following keywords were used to search: training, education, professional capacity, practitioner, sexual health, skill education, module, course, package and curriculum. The term MESH is referred to Medical Subject Headings and the following databases were investigated: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), The Cochrane Library and Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, SID, Magiran, and Iranmedex. All articles from 1980 to 2015 were extracted. Online modules were excluded. Considering that lesson plan was the basis of instruction, the modules were selected based on the characteristics of the lesson plans.
Results: A total number of 38 published training modules in the field of sexuality were determined. In total, more than half of the modules (58%) were designed for medical doctors and allied health professionals and the remaining (42%) were for nurses and midwives. Almost all the modules (97%) were introduced and utilized in developed countries, and only 3% were disseminated in developing countries.
Conclusion: There are invaluable modules to build professional capacity in the field of sexual health. As a number of modules have been designed for nurses and midwifes, as the first-line health care providers, the use of these groups in sexual counseling and empowerment for sexual health is essential. No sexual health training program was designed in Iran. Therefore, designing such modules according to Iranian culture is strongly recommended.
Background
Recent interest in consensus building to improve professional capacity for sexual health has its origins in the field of medical education. Medical education plays an important role in increasing the confidence and skills of healthcare providers to address the clients' sexual health needs.1 There are also variations among medical educators in the degree of agreement necessary to finalize a decision on building sexual training capacity.2 Capacity building in health realm is the development of sustainable skills, organizational structures, resources and commitment to health improvement in all sectors to prolong and...