Sexual and reproductive health and rights of older men and women: addressing a policy blind spot

Abstract

Global debate on required policy responses to issues of older persons has intensified over the past 15 years, fuelled by a growing awareness of the rapid ageing of populations. Health has been a central focus, but scrutiny of global policies, human rights instruments and reports reveals that just as older people are excluded from sexual and reproductive health and rights agendas, so are issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights wholly marginal to current agendas focused on older people. A critical question is whether the policy lacuna reflects a dearth of research evidence or a faulty translation of existing knowledge. A reading of the current research landscape and literature, summarised in this paper, strongly suggests it is the former. To be sure, sexuality in old age is a burgeoning field of scientific inquiry. What the existing knowledge and discourse fail to provide is an engagement with, and elucidation of, the broader sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda as it relates to older persons. A concerted research effort is needed to provide a basis for developing policy guidance and for pinpointing essential indicators and establishing necessary data systems to enable a routine tracking of progress.

Socio-cultural influences upon knowledge of sexually transmitted infections: a qualitative study with heterosexual middle-aged adults in Scotland

“…In keeping with large gaps in existing global research-based evidence focussing on older adults' sexual health, 41 there is a dearth of understanding regarding culturally specific awareness of STIs among this group. This qualitative study, the first to explore STI-related knowledge among middleaged adults in the UK, demonstrates the influence of socio-cultural factors on their knowledge.…”

Improving the sexual lives of older Australians: Perspectives from a qualitative study

“…Recent research indicates that residential aged care facility staff do not always support the consensual sexual expression of residents, with some labelling such expression as ‘inappropriate’ and believing that sex is of little interest to residents . Facilities also tend to lack appropriate policy and practice tools regarding sexual needs and expression , and older cohorts are currently largely ignored in government policy, practice guidelines and education on sex and sexual health .…”

Sexual satisfaction and associated individual factors among midlife and older people in Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria: implications for sexual and reproductive health

“…[10][11][12][13][14] As already observed in a study and the 2017 National Reproductive Health Policy in Nigeria, the sexual health and rights of older people currently suffer from policy neglect across the world. [15][16] This situation should be well-addressed by developing more initiatives to promote sexual health among midlife and older people. Such initiative should recognise that midlife and older adults are groups disproportionately affected by growing numbers of non-communicable diseases and reproductive system cancers such as breast, cervical and prostrate cancers.…”