Sexuality, Healthcare, and Older Adults (Video 3:24)

  

In spite of what you may have thought or heard, many older adults enjoy active and fulfilling sex lives into their later years. In fact, they even tend to live longer. Unfortunately, too many people avoid discussing sex when it relates to older adults. This often gives an inaccurate portrayal of the role of sexuality in aging adults' lives. Sex doesn't belong to youth, and safe sex practices belong to all ages.

Research shows that older adult sexuality is usually only discussed in healthcare settings when patients initiate the discussions. More information initiated by healthcare providers would keep older adults better informed about evolving sexuality issues that have changed through the years. Primary care providers and nurse practitioners may need more older adult sexuality training themselves to meet the needs of this growing and changing population when they initiate more sexuality discussions with patients.

Any discussion of older adult sexuality must include the importance of their using safe sex practices. HIV/AIDS is an illness of older adults, too. Just because many women in this population are postmenopausal does not mean they should not use condoms with vigilance. Online dating and more sexual experimentation with drugs can promote the likelihood of unprotected sex that some older adults may underestimate.

The following video titled "Sexuality and Older Adults" from healthcare collaborators at Johns Hopkins Medicine shares important healthcare information in detail.

                                  

                            

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and ebook editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Frances Shani Parker's Website

Older Adult Sexuality Education of Doctors and Nurses (Research, Video 5:40)

Sex is an American taboo that many people still avoid discussing, particularly when it relates to older adults. Inaccurate stereotypes often surface during sexuality conversations. Why is an old man interested in sex called a “dirty old man,” but an interested young man isn’t? Why do people think the elderly outgrow all their sexual desires? Sex doesn’t belong to youth, and safe sex practices belong to all ages.

Healthcare professionals must address the sexual health concerns of older adults. They should acknowledge and support patients’ desires to function sexually within their abilities. In fact, healthcare professionals should initiate these discussions. But how knowledgeable are they about how to do this? Research on older adult sexuality was done with US physicians and nurse practitioners in primary care. While knowledge scores reflected good knowledge, only 3% of the sample felt they had adequate knowledge of older adult sexuality. Training was found to be adequate for only 11% of the sample. Clearly, primary care providers need more training about older adult sexuality.

Older adults are increasingly becoming more sexually active in various ways. It is natural, and many need help in this area. Often, they were raised in an environment where they are still uncomfortable discussing sex, even with healthcare professionals. Any discussion of older adults and sex must include the importance of their using safe sex practices. HIV/AIDS is an illness of older adults, too. Because many women in this population are postmenopausal, they may not use condoms with the vigilance they would for preventing pregnancy. More sexual experimentation, including some increased by drugs like Viagra, also promotes the likelihood of unprotected sex. In addition, online dating and the proliferation of older adult communities demand commitments to not taking sexual risks.

The following video shares general information about sexuality decisions that healthcare providers should be prepared to use as interventions for older adult sexuality:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog