Counseling young people with physical disabilities regarding relationships and sexuality issues: Utilization of a novel service

People with disabilities are entitled to the same sexual and reproductive health services as are people without disabilities. However, physical boundaries often limit their ability to utilize these services. The present study describes a novel sexual and reproductive health service designated to address the sexual and reproductive needs of adolescents and young adults with physical or sensory disabilities. The service provides multi professional consultations from the medical and psychosocial disciplines which are accessible to physical and sensory impairments. We describe in this paper the utilization of the service by young people with physical or sensory disabilities between 2006 and 2009. Records of 1,203 patients contacting the service were reviewed for demographic data, type and onset of disability and service utilization. Of the 301 (25%) who were invited for treatment, only 74 patients (6.1%) actually arrived to the service. The reasons for drop-out were difficulties in transportation to the clinic and finding escort to aid in accessibility to public transportation (bus or train). Despite being interdisciplinary and fully accessible, the utilization of the service was highly limited. These findings emphasize the need to consider accessible transportation as an integral part of sexual and reproductive health service delivery for consumers with physical or sensory disabilities.