Sexual health problems in patients with motor disabilities in Poland

This article discusses the barriers to achieving a satisfactory sex life by patients with disabilities in Poland, and it compares the current situation with foreign literature on the subject. The most common causes of motor disabilitiy in Poland are injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system (59%) and neurological diseases (38%). According to the existing studies, the main areas on which sexual rehabilitation should be focused are as follows: breaking myths, fears, and stereotypes. The results of the surveys suggest that most people with disabilities did not come across information about their sexual abilities during rehabilitation. Healthcare facilities should be adjusted to the needs of persons with disabilities, and awareness should be raised among healthcare professionals to maintain high ethical standards of services. Despite huge demand, there is still a lack of available, high-quality sources of information on the sexual and reproductive health of people with disabilities in Poland, both for medical staff and for the patients themselves. Numerous studies show barriers to achieving a satisfactory sex life among people with disabilities: educational deficiencies both in the people with disabilities and the rest of society, difficulties in accessing affordable and suitable healthcare, and infrastructural, architectural, and economic barriers, which lead to inequalities in terms of sexual health. This paper highlights problems and barriers affecting people with disabilities and emphasizes the need for changes such as improving the adjustment of health centres to the needs of people with physical disabilities, as well as the need to incur additional costs related to receiving health services.