Aged Care Insite Issue 108 | Aug-Sep 2018 | Page 27

clinical focus Love in all its forms ACI : What are the differences between sexuality and intimacy? How to talk with aged care residents about sexuality and intimacy. Tracey Clark interviewed by Megan Tran T he topics of sexuality and intimacy are often taboo and not normally considered when we talk about the elderly, but how do sexuality and intimacy differ and how should staff be inclusive of these decisions? Aged Care Insite spoke with Tracey Clark, Montefiore’s general manager of allied health services, about the best ways to navigate these sensitive topics. 24 agedcareinsite.com.au TC: Sexuality is how a person individually expresses themselves, whereas intimacy is about a relationship between two beings. What’s complicated about sexuality is that it does encompass a lot of different aspects that often people aren’t aware of and haven’t really discussed or reflected on for themselves. What are society’s perceptions of sex and intimacy in older people? People are often surprised if you even raise the subject. From conversations I’ve had and general research, [it seems that as people] get older, there’s less of a need for sex and there’s less desire, but that’s not necessarily individual people’s reality. How does intimacy alter as people age? At this point, there’s not enough broad research to really gain an accurate picture. But there is some research, and it shows that there’s a number of conditions that do increase with age and some commonly used medications in older people that can change their ability to have an intimate relationship and express their sexuality as they want to express it. For this reason, it’s important that we try to shift the perception that sexuality and intimacy isn’t important in people as they get older, because it’s actually incredibly important and essential to people’s wellbeing. When you were developing policies for Montefiore, what were some of the measures relating to the rights of residents and staff? The first way we developed our policy – and I’d recommend it for other facilities – is using the SexAT, which is the Sexuality Assessment Tool. It is freely available. We felt it was important to ensure residents and staff were clear about their own rights and other people’s rights, and