Despite the thoughts of some younger individuals, sexuality doesn’t stop once one hits retirement age. As people are living longer, the impacts of healthy – and no-so-healthy – sexual activity is becoming more of an issue. Image may be NSFW.
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Among seniors, sexual health now ranks as a major concern. Though there are certainly taboos about this subject among the aging population, it’s important to look at the topic from a rational point of view. Seniors must not only understand the causes of the increased risk to their sexual health but also understand the steps they can take to stay safe as they continue healthy sexual activity.
The Impact of Medication on Sexual Activity
Perhaps the biggest overall change in sexual activity among seniors has been due to the increased availability of drugs that stimulate sexual potency among senior citizens. While name-brand drugs like Viagara and Cialis have been on the market for a number of years, it’s only been in the last two decades that they have seen widespread use and acceptance in the elder community. These drugs allow senior citizens a certain degree of potency that they may have felt lacking previous to taking the drugs, and thus seniors now find themselves engaging in activities that they may have believed the province of younger people.
What this has meant, of course, is that the level of sexual activity generally found in the senior population has continued to rise. Thanks to the potency granted by the medication, seniors are now able to be sexually active with more frequency and, by extension, with more partners. This has, in turn, led to a greater number of instances of sexually transmitted infections in the senior population, especially when the population is in relative isolation (i.e., in a nursing home). This, combined with the relatively poor state of sexual health education among the elderly, has caused something of a health epidemic.
Sexual Health and Education
One of the major issues facing senior citizens is a lack of sex education. Not only did most seniors live through an era where sex education was synonymous with abstinence education, but many also carry rather severe social taboos when it comes to gathering knowledge about their own bodies. These two factors have come together to create a serious problem in many senior communities, as a single infection can quickly find its way around the isolated groups before anyone takes the necessary actions to stop its spread.
One of the most prevalent, yet easily preventable, issues related to this is the lack of safe-sex practices among the elderly. Because most assume that the primary purpose of such activities is to prevent pregnancy, many seniors engage in what would be considered high-risk behavior among younger adults. This, in turn, leads to greater rates of STI transmission – something that could be prevented by actions as simple as a greater level of condom usage. Because of the lack of information regarding safe sex practices among the elderly, though, these basic prophylactic measures are often in short supply.
What Can Be Done?
The clearest solutions to dealing with aging and sexual health surround education. Seniors, when properly informed, are more than capable of making rational decisions about their bodies and their health. While one cannot expect seniors to sit down in a high school style sex-ed lecture, it’s important that senior centers and nursing homes have the necessary literature on-hand. It’s likewise important that doctors and caretakers have frank discussions with seniors about their sexuality and safety. Simply removing some of the taboos associated with talking about sex among seniors will go a long way towards improving their overall health.
Sex is an important part of life, and it doesn’t go away simply due to age. Seniors are more sexually active than ever, and that activity spike has led to certain issues that must be addressed. Whether seniors need to look into medical aids to help with their romantic lives or they need to learn more about ways to stay healthy, the requisite information is out there. What’s more necessary than ever, though, is a willingness to talk about that information and to give seniors more agency in making the choices that will give them longer and healthier lives.