Explain sexual desire in late life and challenges to the expression of sexual desire among elders.
What will be an ideal response?
Elderhood, which starts at about age 85, is often overlooked in people's thinking about sexual experience and relationships.
A challenge is the settings in which the elderly may meet new people. They may find intimate partners in senior centers, assisted-living facilities, and retirement homes. The staff and younger adults may regard these facilities as "desexualized" because they may harbor the attitude that sex is for young people and not for elders. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Yet, as we have seen, people aged 57-85 think of sexuality as an important part of life, and the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s.
For women, having a partner in centers of assisted-living may be related to their level of sexual desire, because the presence of prospective sexual and romantic partners may increase a person's interest in sexuality in such circumstances.
Men seem to be less influenced by the presence of a partner and sexual desire, but they wish to find privacy and engage in sexual pleasure with someone in these settings. Also, women report that having a partner may create greater desire for sex-a finding that differs for men.
Caretakers often do not know how to handle these issues and may embarrass people, due to the absence of sexual literacy and the persistence of negative attitudes about gays and lesbians and about sexual activity in old age. The least society can provide for all people in their elderhood is dignity and respect for their rights.
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