Constructions of sexuality for midlife women living with chronic illness

Aim. In this paper, we reveal constructions of sexuality that were articula ted by women who participated in an inquiry which aimed to understand the e xperiences of midlife women who live with chronic illness. The aim of this paper is to illuminate sexuality as an important health issue for women liv ing with chronic illness and to offer ways that nurses may acknowledge and facilitate sexuality issues for women. Background. The first author, as part of her doctoral study, corresponded w ith 81 women living with chronic illness. The participatory inquiry was fra med by feminist principles and enabled women to anonymously share their exp eriences and collaborate in the direction of the research. During the analy sis phase of the research, it became evident that illness had altered the w ay in which women conceptualized sexuality. Design. The three authors performed secondary analysis of the original data set in order to re-examine the impact that chronic illness had on the sexu ality of midlife women who live with chronic illness. Whilst we acknowledge that sexuality has multiple meanings, in this paper we describe the way in which women themselves have constructed and articulated their sexuality. Findings. We found that sexuality incorporated women's desires, appearance, sexual feelings and expression and imposed on aspects of their lives that they had not needed to acknowledge before illness intruded. Three concerns are discussed; the changing body, meeting the needs of others and communica ting sexuality. Conclusions. This paper reveals that issues of sexuality are an important h ealth concern for women who live with long-term illness and should be ackno wledged in sensitive and responsive health practices. The paper concludes t hat it is important for nurses to provide women opportunity for open and ge nuine communications about sexuality. In this way, a foundation of acceptan ce for the whole person is established which provides women permission to a sk questions and seek assistance with sexuality issues.