Comfort in sexual health communication among medical students: evaluating the efficacy of an online reflective workshop

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the importance of sexual well-being in overall health, health providers do not communicate with their patients about sexual health sufficiently and highlight their discomfort with the topic as one key barrier. This study tested the effectiveness of a brief reflective sexual health workshop as an online intervention to increase comfort in sexual health communication. Participants were students enrolled on an undergraduate medical programme at a private university in Malaysia who were randomly allocated to a workshop that focused either on sexual health communication (intervention, n = 48) or on cultural competence in communication training (active control, n = 50). While the workshops varied in their focus, both followed identical structures and tasks. Multilevel modelling analyses revealed that both workshops increased subjective (self-reported) comfort and observed comfort through more direct verbal mentions of sex during history-taking. However, the sexual health workshop was more effective than the cultural competence workshop in reducing verbal avoidance behaviours and in promoting awareness of the value of effective communication about sex. Our Findings highlight the value of conducting brief reflective workshops that focus on comfort in communication to supplement other aspects of the medical school curriculum.