Sex/uality Artifacts

Hello Class, my name is Kenzi Hoffman. I did my artifact while referencing the article we read called “An Affair to Remember.” I wanted to look at the legality of sex in nursing homes and if there was any improvements in laws/policies. I came across the article online titled “Sex in Geriatrics Sets Hebrew Home Apart in Elderly Care.” This article touched on a nursing home addressing sex, and actually allowing it. I will now talk about the logistics the nursing home used in developing it s four page policy about sexual expression. They made the policy after giving out a questionnaire on sex. The questionnaire was given to residents and staff on how they felt about residents having sex. After that a group of 11 staff members got together to write a policy, and quoted one of the discussion saying: “it is the function and responsibility of staff to uphold and facilitate resident sexual expression.” The policy gave rights to books, magazines, films and other materials with explicit sexual content, as well as to private space (Gruley, 2013). The policy makes key points about non-consensual sex and public displays should not occur, and takes into consideration the families views. However, with their new policy they adjusted it to say that family wishes will NOT always be met because they think the dementia residents have the capacity to consent. Therefore, this policy now tries to work with families to accept what the resident wants rather than what the family may necessarily want/deem ‘okay’. The policy focuses on allowing the patient to do what they want, since this after all is their “home”, but tells the STAFF that they are the ones that need to be vigilant in their duties of simply making sure everyone is safe and it is consensual amongst residents not abusive. I will conclude with this quote from an 85 year-old resident that just moved into Hebrew Homes, “Intimacy is the most natural, normal thing in the whole world. It keeps you young, it gives you something to look forward to. It’s not easy to get into a cold bed.” Keep that in mind and instead of stigmatizing sex amongst elders, it really does promote physical and metal well-being for them; would you really want to take that away from someone?

Below is the link to the Hebrew Homes article:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-23/sex-in-geriatrics-sets-hebrew-home-apart-in-elderly-care