Issues Around Aged Care and Intimacy

A snapshot of how residential aged care facilities respond to the issue of sex and intimacy amongst its residents was recently published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

The national survey of almost 3000 Australian residential aged care facilities was led by Linda McAuliffe and Professor Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh at La Trobe’s Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care (ACEBAC).

Professor Fetherstonhaugh said as Australia’s population ages and the need for residential aged care facilities grows, it is important that the right to intimacy and sexual expression of older adults moving into residential aged care is respected.

Intimacy contributes to our well-being and extends into older age, despite cognitive or physical impairment. However, unlike their community-dwelling peers, who continue to enjoy their right to sexual freedom, aged care residents often find that their right to sexual expression is hampered,