The setting of homes for the elderly must be studied closely to ensure residents’ sexual needs were adequately addressed, Active Ageing Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis said on Friday.

“Staff must receive better training and support on effectively managing this issue and the perspective of service users also needs to be sought,” he noted.

“Training staff and creating more personal care, which includes sexuality, should help staff understand and facilitate relationships.”

Mr Agius Decelis was speaking at the opening of a national conference, themed ‘Sexuality and intimacy in later life: towards a national policy framework’, aimed at kickstarting a debate on the matter ahead of the drawing up of policies on sexuality among the elderly.

He insisted that while some people might start to suffer from certain medical conditions as they got older, it did not mean they did not have their own sexual needs.

“Normal ageing brings about physical ageing in men and women that may affect the ability to enjoy a normal sexual life.

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“This is because age-related illnesses, such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and stroke, together with mental problems, can all have a negative effect on a healthy relationship,” Mr Agius Decelis said.

Active Ageing Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Agius Decelis speaking yesterday. Photo: DOI

Warning that age did not protect an individual from sexually-transmitted infections, he insisted that health campaigns aimed at raising awareness on such infections should not be aimed only at young people. Older adults also had to be informed of such risks, he remarked.

Trish Hafford-Letchfield, a professor at Middlesex University, said sexuality issues of older people remained a taboo, one which society still struggled with.

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“The first thing we should do is to think about our own sexuality and our own sexual identity because we need to be comfortable and clear about our own values and beliefs on sex,” Prof. Hafford-Letchfield said.

It was also crucial to give older people a voice by involving them in the policy-making process, she said.