Australian veteran sexual health: ‘…you are the first person I’ve spoken to about it.’

Kosta Douvos; Louise Bourchier; Meredith J. Temple-Smith; Sue Malta

doi:10.1071/SH24152

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Australian veteran sexual health: ‘…you are the first person I’ve spoken to about it.’

Kosta Douvos

^A ^* , Louise Bourchier

^A , Meredith J. Temple-Smith ^B and Sue Malta ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^B Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: kdouvos@student.unimelb.edu.au

Handling Editor: Jennifer Power

Sexual Health 22, SH24152 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH24152

Submitted: 4 August 2024 Accepted: 3 February 2025 Published: 24 February 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

Sexual health and functioning outcomes have been shown to be poor among veterans due to factors associated with military service, as well as barriers to healthcare access. However, there is currently limited research attempting to assess the scope and extent of these issues in the Australian context.

Methods

Ten qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian professionals working within or adjacent to veteran sexual health and were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Sexual health and functioning issues commonly develop among Australian veterans due to a variety of physical, psychological and social factors. Factors include mental ill-health, physical illness and injury, use of medication, and relationship strain. These contribute to physiological dysfunctions, poor sexual behaviours and difficulties in forming healthy, meaningful intimate relationships. Barriers, such as lack of awareness and understanding, stigma, and structural barriers, were suggested to interfere with healthcare access and worsen outcomes. Key informants recommended increasing provider training, research and military support, as well as de-stigmatising sexual health issues.

Conclusions

Veteran sexual health is not often on the radar of Australian health and research professionals. Our study is one of few studies in the Australian context, highlighting the need to conduct more research to better manage veteran sexual health and functioning needs.

Keywords: Australia, healthcare access, help-seeking, key informants, military, qualitative analysis, sexual health and functioning, veteran health.

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