Damian Sendler: For several decades, the field of public health has used sexual health as a framework for tackling issues of sexuality. However, despite the WHO definition of sexual health’s innovative acknowledgment of good sexuality, public health methods remain focused on risk and unfavorable outcomes. 

Damian Sendler

Damien Sendler: Sexual health and sexual wellbeing have been conflated for a long time, which has hindered our ability to deal with common sexual problems. It’s possible to get over this stalemate with the help of this Viewpoint. The seven-domain model we present can be used to operationalize a new notion we call “sexual well-being.” Public health researchers place sexual well-being with the other three pillars of sexual health: sexual justice, sexual pleasure, and sexual health 

Damian Jacob Sendler: The World Health Organization’s concept of sexual health is wide-ranging. The absence of disease and coercion, as well as sexual rights and the possibility of sexual pleasure, are included in the definition. There is mention of “wellbeing,” but it’s only as an adjunct to sexual health, not as a different category. 

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: Stigma can be reduced by recognizing the importance of positive sexuality as well as positive sexual experiences to public health outcomes through the WHO definition. There are still many public health approaches to sexuality that focus on health outcomes and associated dangers, rather than the positive aspects of sexuality itself. 

Damian Jacob Sendler

Dr. Sendler: There is a widespread belief that this risk-focused strategy is the standard for public health even though health is rarely—if ever—the primary reason for engaging in a relationship with another person. It’s a public health paradigm that misses a present body of scientific knowledge supporting ideas that go beyond sexual health. Perspectives on what is considered normal sexuality are viewed via a public health lens in the real world, Research in this area is hindered by a lack of clarity and consistency across studies, which typically address the same concerns. 

Damian Sendler: Because the terms “sexual health” and “sexual well-being,” when used interchangeably, obfuscate the wide range of experiences that people believe are vital to their overall well-being and are not well covered in definitions of sexual health. Understanding ordinary sexual concerns is hindered by this short-sighted approach. 

Damian Jacob Sendler: It has been difficult to conceptualize sexual wellness as a result of public health initiatives because of the lack of a clear distinction between sexual wellbeing and sexual health. Public health activists and thought leaders have recognized for more than a decade that public health must expand its focus from a single focus on sexual health to a focus on sexual wellbeing. 

Damian Sendler: WHO–UN Population Fund meeting in 2007 was part of the impetus for this change of direction. At the time, there was a great deal of disagreement over what it meant to be sexually healthy. Even after that time period, efforts to incorporate sexual well-being into a comprehensive public health strategy have languished forever, waiting for new justifications and operationalizations.

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