{
  "abstract": "Background Intimacy is defined as a feeling of closeness and connection in an interpersonal relationship. Encompassing emotional, physical and spiritual elements, it forms an essential part of relationships, playing a significant role in wellbeing (Kelemen, Groninger. How to address sexuality and intimacy with people living with a serious illness. Center to Advance Palliative Care. 2022 [internet]; Hjalmarsson, Lindroth. J Clin Nurs. 2020;29(15-16):2979-2990).Although hospice clinicians are committed to providing holistic care, and despite studies showing that patients want to discuss intimacy with their healthcare providers, some clinicians find it difficult to discuss intimacy with service-users (Kelemen, Cagle, Groninger. J Palliat Med. 2016;19(10):1102-1105; Kelemen, Cagle, Chung, et al. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2019;58(2):282-288). This can impact on quality of life, as feelings of dissatisfaction, isolation and inadequacy are not acknowledged or addressed (Marie Curie. Sexuality, intimacy and relationships. 2021 [internet]).Aim To explore hospice staff’s confidence and experiences of talking to service users about intimacy and identify opportunities to achieve improvement.Method A questionnaire was designed, identifying key themes to explore confidence and experiences in discussing intimacy with service users. An online questionnaire was distributed via email to clinical staff. The questionnaire was designed to be brief, with responses set as anonymous to increase participation. Demographic information was requested in relation to job role and area of work to explore whether patterns of confidence emerged by these categories.Results 39 responses were returned. Confidence scores (rated from 1 to 10) ranged from 1 to 9 with the average at 4.92, indicating only average confidence in having discussions about intimacy. Reasons for under-confidence were in the majority related to lack of knowledge and training and not knowing how to raise the subject. Variation in confidence scores was found between work area with average scores of 4.2 (inpatient), 5 (outpatient) and 6.86 (community).Conclusion Discussing intimacy remains a challenge for clinicians. The results of the questionnaire have helped identify barriers to starting conversations. Moving forward this will inform a training resource to help improve confidence to ensure service users are given optimal opportunity to discuss this important topic with their expert hospice team.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Mountbatten Group, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Mary Banks"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Mountbatten, Isle of Wight, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Victoria Mortimer"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Mountbatten, Hampshire, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Tania Heasman"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P-09 ‘I’ll talk about death and dying… but not sex’. Hospice staff confidence to talk to service users about intimacy",
  "uid": "e559778b-f1f6-51fc-b328-1d18dcc6f1b1"
}