Premium
Baby boomers’ attitudes to maintaining sexual and intimate relationships in long‐term care
Author(s) -
Rahn Alison,
Jones Tiffany,
Bennett Cary,
Lykins Amy
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12732
Subject(s) - baby boomers , thematic analysis , context (archaeology) , psychology , health care , aged care , descriptive statistics , qualitative property , gerontology , qualitative research , social psychology , medicine , sociology , political science , geography , demographic economics , social science , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , machine learning , economics , computer science , law
Objectives Australian aged care policy is wholly focused on individual “consumers” and consequently neglects the needs of dyadic partners. This paper highlights partnered baby boomers’ attitudes to maintaining sexual and intimate relationships in residential care. Methods In 2016, cross‐sectional data were collected using an online survey of partnered baby boomers recruited using social media. Qualitative data were analysed using word frequency, keywords‐in‐context and thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were generated from quantitative data. Results There were 168 participants (85% female), aged 51‐71 years. Many reported that remaining together and continuing physical and sexual contact were important in aged care contexts—necessitating private couple's suites, shared beds, access to condoms, lubricants and sexual health professionals. Conclusions Considerable cultural change will be required to raise residential aged care to the standard expected by some partnered baby boomers. Shifting to a more couple‐centred approach may benefit partnered residents’ health and well‐being.