{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T23:52:21Z","timestamp":1791849141084,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"CSIRO Publishing","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sexual health services and research often neglect middle-aged and older adults, including those with disabilities. The Sexual Health in Older Adults Research (SHOAR) study addresses this gap through a designathon, engaging adults aged 45+ years to co-create inclusive, user-centred sexual health interventions in the UK.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We used a participatory action research approach to co-develop sexual health interventions for middle-aged and older adults, including people with disabilities and sexual minorities. The 2.5-day event, supported by diverse stakeholders, produced five prototype interventions, with one selected to present at a national sexual health conference.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 34 participants (41.2% males and 58.8% females) aged from under 25 years to 62\u00a0years participated in the designathon in London. Five teams developed proposed interventions that addressed assigned themes: (1) community theatre, knit and natter (knitting and social group), scripted peer-support stories, and street festivals with signposting; (2) use of self-care (e.g. barbers, hair salon) to promote discussion of sexual health; (3) inclusion of sexual health-related questions in routine National Health Service health checks performed by general practitioners; (4) information and advertisement campaign for older and women with disabilities with catchy slogans and buttons\/stickers; and (5) peer champions providing training on inclusive services, peer-support in clinics in community settings.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We describe the process and outcomes of a sexual health-related designathon with middle-aged and older adults. The use of participatory activities to engage this population proved to be a valuable source of insights for improving sexual health research, practice, and policy. Further research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness and implementability.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1071\/sh26034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T23:16:37Z","timestamp":1791846997000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A designathon to co-create strategies to increase uptake of sexual health services among older adults, including those with disabilities: findings from a UK-based participatory event"],"prefix":"10.1071","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4381-9217","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Arushi","family":"Subba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ALondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2059-0402","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Hayley","family":"Conyers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BDepartment of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mandikudza","family":"Tembo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CMRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9183-8233","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yusuf","family":"Babatunde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0415-5467","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dan","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BDepartment of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."},{"name":"EDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210093, China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2804-1181","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joseph D.","family":"Tucker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BDepartment of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."},{"name":"FInstitute for Infectious Diseases and Global Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1180-1439","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Eneyi E.","family":"Kpokiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BDepartment of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3751-0837","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yoshiko","family":"Sakuma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BDepartment of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"67","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026101219163330100_R1","unstructured":"World Health Organization\n          . Sexual health.World Health Organization; 2026. 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Age, sex and you: a new website talking about sexual changes for older adults.Ageing Equal; 2019. Available at https:\/\/ageing-equal.org\/age-sex-and-you\/"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026101219163330100_R6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.1017\/S0144686X17001222","article-title":"The impact of experiences of ageism on sexual activity and interest in later life.","volume":"39","author":"Heywood","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ageing Soc"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026101219163330100_R7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E96","DOI":"10.1016\/S2666-7568(23)00003-X","article-title":"Sexual activity of older adults: let\u2019s talk about it.","volume":"4","author":"Steckenrider","year":"2023","journal-title":"Lancet Healthy Longev"},{"key":"2026101219163330100_R8","unstructured":"NHS Digital\n          . Health Survey for England, 2021 part 1.NHS Digital; 2022. 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