Purpose. To describe current societal perceptions and attitudes towards sexuality and disability and how social stigma differs between individuals living with visible and invisible disabilities. Method. A qualitative approach was used to explore attitudes and perceptions towards sexuality and disability. Focus groups were conducted with the following groups: service providers, people with visible disabilities, people with invisible disabilities and the general public. The focus group participants viewed ‘Sexability’ a documentary film on sexuality and disability to stimulate discussion midway through the session. Results. Findings suggest that individuals with disabilities are commonly viewed as asexual due to a predominant heteronormative idea of sex and what is considered natural. A lack of information and education on sexuality and disability was felt to be a major contributing factors towards the stigma attached to disability and sexuality. Conclusions. Stigma can lead individuals to internalise concepts of asexuality and may negatively impact confidence, desire and ability to find a partner while distorting one's overall sexual self-concept. Societal attitudes and perceptions are driven by education and knowledge, if there is no exposure to sexuality and disability, it follows suit that society would have a narrow understanding of these issues. Further research should focus on how best to educate and inform all members of society.

Background: Immersive virtual reality (VR) with head-mounted display was used to determine if clinical interview simulation could reduce the anxiety levels of first-year occupational therapy (OT) students as they prepared for upcoming Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Anxiety among health science students is a potential problem that may diminish their performance during OSCEs. This investigation aimed to fill the gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of VR to reduce anxiety in OT students. Objective: This investigation aimed to uncover the effectiveness of immersive VR in reducing state anxiety in OT students who were preparing for OSCEs. Methods: A prospective, experimental, nonrandomized controlled trial compared levels of state anxiety, test anxiety, and academic self-efficacy in two groups of first-year OT students; these levels were measured at four different time points by self-reported psychometric scales, analyzed with a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). Members of Phase 1 (NoVR) were not exposed to the VR simulation and acted as a control group for members of Phase 2 (YesVR), who were exposed to the VR simulation. VR simulation featured a virtual clinic and a standardized patient who students could interview in natural language. Measures of student study strategies and previous experience with VR were also recorded. Results: A total of 49 participants—29 in the NoVR group and 20 in the YesVR group—showed that state anxiety had a rise-then-fall trend, peaking at the time point just before the OSCE. At that point, the YesVR students showed significantly less state anxiety than did the NoVR students (t46.19=2.34, P=.02, Cohen d=0.65, ηp2=0.105). The mean difference was 6.78 units (95% CI 0.96-12.61). In similar trends for both groups, student test anxiety remained relatively static across the time points, while academic self-efficacy continually increased. A moderate positive correlation was found for total time spent studying and peak state anxiety (NoVR r=.46, n=28, P=.01; YesVR r=.52, n=19, P=.02). Conclusions: This investigation shows evidence of immersive VR’s capability to reduce state anxiety in OT students preparing for clinical practical exams. Immersive VR simulation, used for the reduction of anxiety in health science students, can potentially lead to a future of positive mental health change from the virtual to the real world.

This study investigated problems that children with visual impairments experience with sexual health education. The participants identified themes that affected their knowledge of sexual health and the need for sexual health education. Strategies that address sexual health issues for individuals with visual impairments are described.

Sleep deficiency is a significant issue across higher education campuses and has a detrimental effect on students’ academic achievement, physical and mental health, and overall wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to carry out a campus-wide survey determining students’ self-reported sleep patterns, sources of advice for sleep problems, current sleep promoting practices, and preferred mechanisms to receive new information assisting with sleep problems. An anonymous electronic survey was distributed in February 2016 to all levels of students at the University of Alberta in the Western region of Canada. Descriptive data analysis was carried out with SPSS (v23). There were 1294 students (78.0% undergraduates; 87.5% living off-campus, 77.5% female) who participated in the survey. Sleeping less than 6.5 h a night was reported by 30.5% of participants; 66.5% stated they had insufficient sleep; 80.6% had not sought help. The three most frequent behaviours to aid sleep were reading a book, listening to music, and adjusting the heat. Although sleep problems were widely reported, students seldom sought help for this. The survey revealed that students already practice several strategies (listening to music, for example) that lend themselves to serving as a foundation for a strength-based cross-campus social marketing campaign of sleep promoting strategies.