Disrupted sexual function is a prevalent and sustained side effect experienced by women treated for reproductive cancers and has been shown to be related to poorer marital relationship, emotional well-being and quality of life. However, sexual health care for this group of women has been neglected in most countries or regions including Hong Kong due to cultural and clinical challenges.

Professor Chow Ka Ming has received training in sexuality counselling with sexual health certificate from the University of Michigan, and obtained government funding to conduct research in this neglected area. Her early research revealed that impaired sexual function was prevalent among Chinese women treated for gynaecological cancer. To enhance the quality of sexuality nursing care in Hong Kong, she has developed culturally appropriate, evidence-based psychoeducational and sexual rehabilitation programmes for this group of women and evaluated these programmes using randomised control trials. These trials have demonstrated beneficial effects on improving sexual function among the target recipients. To facilitate translation of evidence into clinical practice, she has developed a practice model of sexuality nursing care to enhance the provision of sexuality care for patients with gynaecological cancer in a mixed-method study. Professor Chow is going to implement a multimodal couple-coping intervention for premenopausal breast cancer patients to evaluate its effect on sexual adjustment, relationship quality, and quality of life. Our team’s research involves long-term international collaboration with experts from mainland China, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom. She has also actively disseminated her research findings through internationally refereed publications and conference presentations, as well as local newspapers to increase public awareness on sexual health for women with female reproductive cancers.