ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of human sexuality, from the past to our present understanding of how sex ‘works.’ It addresses communication about sexuality and sexual functioning by health care providers. The book discusses sexual development from a lifespan perspective, from adolescence to old age, including sexual aging. It also provides the latest evidence on the role that many different diseases/conditions impact on sexuality. These include medical and mental conditions as well as the impact of trauma and disability. The book also discusses cancer in adolescence and young adulthood, a time when sexual identity and relationships are established and where developmental milestones are impacted during treatment. It focuses on interventions for sexual dysfunction for men and women, and on infertility and the sexual challenges of treatments to enable conception.
