Original title: Experiences of sexual rehabilitation post-stroke among LGBTQI+ stroke survivors and their partners: a qualitative study
William Kokay, Emma Power, Roxanna N. Pebdani, Margaret McGrath · October 2026
Surviving a stroke can drastically change a person's romantic and sex life. Researchers interviewed 18 LGBTQI+ stroke survivors and five partners over video calls to understand their recovery. Many participants reported that doctors and therapists never brought up sexuality at all. When it was discussed, interactions were often negative. These findings show that healthcare teams need clearer, more inclusive ways to help patients rebuild intimacy after a stroke.
You take your car to a garage after a bad crash to get it roadworthy again. The mechanics fix the engine and steering, but completely ignore the broken heater and locks, leaving you to freeze in an insecure cabin. In this paper, recovery care focuses on basic physical repairs while failing to address personal intimacy. Here, survivors and their partners are left to handle essential parts of their private lives entirely on their own.
Recovering from a stroke involves rebuilding everyday life, including intimate relationships. When healthcare workers ignore sexuality or handle it poorly, LGBTQI+ survivors and their partners are left without vital guidance. Understanding their experiences helps clinics design rehabilitation that actually supports people of all sexualities and genders.
The study relies on a qualitative sample of 18 survivors and five partners interviewed over video conferencing. The abstract notes that specific subgroups remain underrepresented, explicitly pointing out the need for future research focusing on transgender, bisexual, and intersex individuals as well as more partners. It also does not evaluate the clinical outcome of a specific intervention.
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Experiences of sexual rehabilitation post-stroke among LGBTQI+ stroke survivors and their partners: a qualitative study — William Kokay, Emma Power, Roxanna N. Pebdani et al. — Disability and Rehabilitation — doi:10.1080/09638288.2026.2742541
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.