Sexuality and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sexuality and Health - Essay Example Upon realising that he won’t be able to have sex anytime soon due to his condition, the patient decided to elicit assistance from the staff regarding procuring the services of a prostitute. In response, the request was escalated to the hospice ethics committee, as well as the legal department (The Independent 2008). Gorin and Arnold (2006) described the complex relationship between human sexuality and health. The term sexual health encompasses a number of phenomena mainly focusing on the health-related outcomes of sexual behaviour. A common perception regarding sexual health is that it is a quality or capability of an individual to avoid committing sexual acts which produce negative consequences such as the spread of diseases or unwanted pregnancies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the term sexual health is defined as a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality, not just confined to the absence of disease, disability , or affliction. As such, sexual health should be positively viewed as a way of ensuring that individuals are able to create and maintain safe and pleasurable sexual experiences. In addition, sexual health advocates that a person’s sexual rights should be respected, protected, and fulfilled (Gorin & Arnold 2006). Healey and Zimmerman (2010) described the term disability as a frequently used term to denote an individual’s inability to perform tasks which are attainable for a normal human being. However, its definition depends on how it is used. For example, in terms of public health, disability may be perceived on how it affects the general population. In contrast, disability in the public welfare viewpoint may be seen in terms of the provision of services for persons with disabilities. For reasons of clarity, the following terms – impairment, disability, and handicap – are defined as per WHO guidelines. Impairment is defined as a physiological disorder or injury. On the other hand, having a disability is being unable to do a task due to one’s impairment. Meanwhile, possessing a handicap is a social result of being disabled (Healey & Zimmerman 2010). 1.0 The role of health promotion Kirch (2008) maintained that there is no standard definition of the term health prom otion and its definition would depend on the activity it is attributed to. As a generalized term however, health promotion is defined as a process or activity with the aim of encouraging people to take action regarding personal health behaviour and compliance to existing health policies and programs. There are four main components of individual health, three of which involves health promotion. These components are: (1) lifestyle and behaviour; (2) health, social, and other service provision; and (3) socio-economic and physical environment. In relation to the determination of health, health promotion encompasses activities which encourage individuals to act on certain internal and external aspects which influence overall health. Internal aspects refer to determinants of health which individuals have most control such as personal health behaviours. On the other hand, external aspects refer to health determinants in which individuals have very little control such as social, economic, a nd environmental conditions (Kirch 2008). The concept of sexual