Menu
Heather Hogan and I attended this year’s NICE Knowledge Exchange at the Hart House on the University of Toronto Campus. NICE stands for National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly.
A multidisciplinary effort, NICE brings together nurses, social workers, personal care workers—a variety of individuals navigating the elder care system— and more recently lawyers practicing elder law, in order to develop and share resources to improve care of the elderly. For an example of the culmination of these efforts, see www.nicenet.ca for a sample of the useful “tools” developed by members of the organization. These digital tools offer useful information on issues affecting the elderly such as dementia, elder abuse, end of life issues and financial literacy. A hard copy of a variety of tools can also be ordered online.
At the Knowledge Exchange, Heather and I attended a workshop presented by Valerie Barr from the Calgary Sexual Health Centre which explored the topic of sexuality and the elderly. The discussion began with an unraveling of the myth, as stated by our presenter, that “sexuality begins at age 19 and ends at 30”. This myth, opined Ms. Barr, leads to a phenomenon in elder care homes—although it exists elsewhere and to varying degrees— where displays of sexuality by older adults are conceived of as displays of sexual deviance.
Members of the audience who work in care homes shared examples of relationships developing between elderly adults that were viewed as inherently problematic by certain members of the staff or family members. Ms. Barr reminded members of the audience that, as a fundamental facet of identity, sexuality—as manifested in any age group—should not be ignored or transformed into a source of shame.
An interesting discussion arose from this workshop on the issue of planning for future wishes as they relate to sharing a room in a care home. A discussion worth having with an older person who is planning for the future may entail a consideration of whether that person wishes to share a room with a partner in a care home, or to be provided with his or her own space.
For more information, see the Calgary Sexual Health Centre’s page on Sexuality and Aging at www.cbca.ab.ca/aging_intro.html. The page includes links to “Digital Stories” of intimacy as it relates to older adults.
