Promoting Sexual Health and Wellbeing among Elderly Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide research based information on the elderly and sexuality as it relates to the concept of impact on the elderly and competence in handling such cases in nursing care during aged-care period especially. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of aging on the sexual life of the elderly, their sexual needs, and how those concerns are handled by healthcare professionals. The method used is literature review. The search engines include; Cinahl, Elsevier Science Direct, Ebsco Academic and PubMed. The researcher adopted inclusion and exclusion criteria in the article selection for this literature review. The selected articles were based on their relationship with elderly and sexuality. The results were discussed in the categories of the questions under the headings impact, concerns and handling. The impact of aging on sexuality were discussed under biological, psychological, social context, myths about sexuality, male sexual dysfunction, female sexual dysfunction, practical, and delays in seeking help. The concerns include difficulty to consult on sexual problem and results of handling sexual issues among the elderly include inadequate attention, inadequate knowledge and medical Intervention. The research revealed that the impact of aging on sexuality of the elderly exist, but there are underlying factors that lead to decline in sexual activity among the elderly, where those factors do not exist, the elderly enjoy their sexual life as their younger adults do.