[Our
research into the sexual lives of more than 7,000 men and women
between the ages of 50 and 90 in England reveals much about older attitudes to
sex, how sexually active they are and what problems and concerns they
experience with their sexual health. We’ve been carrying out this study since
2013 and it’s the first time that people over the age 80 have been included.]
By David Lee
When
we consider society’s prevailing view of late-life sexuality, the convention
has been that older people are not particularly sexually active or interested
in intimate sexual relationships. These preconceptions can be extreme, ranging
from humour to disgust, or simply a refusal to believe that people in their
seventies and eighties have sexual interests or needs at all.
Thankfully,
such assumptions appear largely inaccurate. There are the individual stories of
those open to sharing their experiences, as Patricia, 81, did
with author Iris Krasnow:
"Steven asked me to
go to Paris with him. I said, ‘Okay, I guess it’s time to try you out.’ My
husband was the only man I’ve ever been with, so being intimate with another
man was very scary, but he was very kind and respectful."
"It’s not teenage
sex, but it’s very satisfying. We love to experiment. We love to dance. There
is a lot of cuddling and snuggling. This man, my God, is a gem in every way,
whether it’s sexual or spiritual or cultural. It’s so romantic it’s almost
electrifying."
And there are various
studies that reveal that many older people maintain healthy, active sex lives.
What do older people think?
Our
research into the sexual lives of more than 7,000 men and women
between the ages of 50 and 90 in England reveals much about older attitudes to
sex, how sexually active they are and what problems and concerns they
experience with their sexual health. We’ve been carrying out this study since
2013 and it’s the first time that people over the age 80 have been included.
In our survey, we found
that half of men and almost a third of women aged 70 and over were still
sexually active, with around a third of these sexually active older people
having sexual intercourse twice a month or more. Around two-thirds of men and
over half of women thought “good sexual relations were essential to the
maintenance of a long-term relationship” or “being sexually active was
physically and psychologically beneficial to older people”.
READ MORE:
THE MOST DANGEROUS SEX POSITION REVEALED IN STUDY
CARE FOR ELDERLY IN STATE OF 'CALAMITOUS DECLINE'
THE MOST DANGEROUS SEX POSITION REVEALED IN STUDY
CARE FOR ELDERLY IN STATE OF 'CALAMITOUS DECLINE'
Sexual problems were
relatively common, however, with a third of sexually active women reporting
difficulties becoming sexually aroused or achieving orgasm. For men,
difficulties getting and maintaining an erection was the most common problem,
reported by 40% of those who were sexually active. Chronic health conditions
and poor self-rated health seemed to have more obvious negative impacts on the
sexual health of men compared to women.
Men were also more
concerned about their sexual activities and function than women and with
increasing age these concerns tended to become more common. Sexually active
women were less dissatisfied with their overall sex lives than men and also
reported decreasing levels of dissatisfaction with increasing age.
There are two sides to
this – on the one hand we don’t want to impose unrealistic expectations on
older people in terms of feeling they need to meet youthful norms of sexual
prowess and feelings of failure if they don’t do so. Importantly, we found a
lot of diversity in our data, for example, of those men and women who reported
they hadn’t been sexually active over the past 12 months the majority of were
not concerned or worried about it.
However, that’s not to
say that the sexual health needs of older people should be ignored or
overlooked – research has clearly shown that clinicians and other
healthcare professionals need to be proactive when broaching the topic of
sexuality and to engage openly with older people. Indeed, the same research has
shown that older people who were asked about their sexual health and functioning
were then more likely to seek further help with any sexual problems they may
have.
As Caroline Abrahams,
charity director at Age UK, said:
"With an ageing
population it is important that providers of sexual health services understand
the needs of older people both in clinical settings and when developing
information and advice. These recent findings now need to be used to improve
sexual health advice and information for older people."
We hope our research will
also encourage a more open discourse about late-life sexuality and health, and
foster wider understanding between generations that sex doesn’t stop at 50.
David Lee, Age UK
Research Fellow at University of Manchester
This article was
originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
