Sexuality, dementia and residential care: managers report and response.

Abstract

There is a growing literature on the subject of sexuality and an increased knowledge of sexuality and older people, but there is a dearth of information about sexuality and people with dementia, particularly those in residential care. The concern of this paper is with people with dementia; it also considers the impact of gender on their sexual expression. The expression of sexuality by people with dementia is an area which has been largely neglected by research, yet in practice appears to be of concern. The types and prevalence of sexual expression by people with dementia in residential care and staff's responses to such expression are examined. A postal questionnaire sent to managers of social work residential homes in one region in Scotland explored a number of different issues, including: the public versus private expression of sexuality by people with dementia, the public response versus the private feelings of managers to such expression, the influence of carer involvement on staff's responses, exploitation of one resident by another and sexual expression directed at staff by residents. Permeating all these was the issue of gender. The majority of homes were staffed predominantly by female managers and female care staff. Most residents were female yet the majority of incidents involving sexual expression, reported by managers, involved male residents directing their attention towards female staff or other residents. Female residents with dementia do express sexuality but numbers reported are considerably less with staff actions tending towards the protective. Some types of sexual expression appear to be of more concern than others, and some are reported to occur more frequently.