(Re-)Engagement with Sexual Wellbeing: Building sexual self-compassion and improved sexual wellbeing in people with recurrent Urinary Tract Infection.
People living with recurrent Urinary Tract Infection(rUTI), predominantly a community comprising women, experience stigmatisation, shame, guilt, and declining mental health. These challenges may reflect inaccurate beliefs that UTI are a result of poor personal/sexual hygiene, resulting in involuntary abstinence, reduced sexual confidence and sexual well-being. This project aims to identify/resolve barriers and facilitators of sexual well-being in the rUTI community via three phases: (1) qualitative concept elicitation, (2) intervention design, and (3) intervention feasibility testing. Phase 1 will elicit UTI-related sexual well-being concepts from people living with rUTI, their partners, and urology-related healthcare professionals. Data will be bi-directionally analysed using combined inductive (reflexive thematic analysis) and deductive coding with the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy applied to the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This is expected to lead to the identification of three main intervention components (Phase 2): a tailored rUTI psychoeducation seminar, a self-compassion intervention focused on sexual identity, and a patient-led communication tool to facilitate sex-related discussions with partners. These components will be developed and feasibility tested (Phase 3) via a small-scale pilot within the rUTI community. Effectiveness will be assessed using a tailored mixed-methods approach (UTI-related questionnaires and feedback interviews). The project aims to have significant social impact, enhancing relationship quality, sexual quality of life, mental health, and sexual well-being. It aims to restore the community of people living with rUTI to confidence in their sexual identity through re-engagement with their sexuality.