Reflection on Aging and Sexual Health Lecture
Today in OCP Older Adults class, we learned about aging and sexual health from Jennifer Valli, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist. It was a very insightful lecture for such a sensitive topic, and I think it was a great opportunity to learn more about it in order to gain a better perspective of OT’s role in this subject. My key takeaways from this lecture were as follows:
• It is a myth that older populations are asexual is later life. They do experience a gradual decline in sexual activity, but the majority of healthy people with partners remain sexual into their later years.
• Orgasm results in pain relief, stress reduction, and improvements sleep and cognitive functioning in older adults.
• Masturbation can have the same affect as practicing mindfulness as it sharpens the mind even when others are not engaged.
• During menopause, women’s levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels fluctuate, which has a direct impact on their sexual health (i.e., lubrication and vulva thickness both decrease). In men, testosterone levels and blood flow decline, which makes it difficult for them to obtain/maintain an erection and produce sperm.
• As men and women age, it takes longer and longer to achieve orgasm.
• The Tri-Phasic Model of Sexual Response is different for men and women. In women, sexual response starts with desire, then arousal, and ends with orgasm. In addition, women more commonly desire emotional intimacy and satisfaction within this process, and a cognitive thought/neutral feeling commonly precedes arousal. With men, sexual response begins with desire and then moves to arousal and orgasm.
• If a woman has biologically decreased sexual desire, it is very common for her partner to assume that she is not attracted to him.
• Men commonly view many areas of their life as a competition and hold themselves to the standard that they should be skilled at everything. Therefore, this commonly carries over into sexual relations and can lead to them feeling incompetent if they do not perform as well as they think they should sexually. However, men that stay sexual throughout their lifetime are more flexible in their sexual thoughts.
• If men think there could be a chance of compromised sexual functioning with a partner, they will not engage in sexual activity at all.
• There are keys to sexual intimacy for those living in the later years of their life. For women, desire often happens through a process, therefore they should not necessarily wait for that drive before they engage. For men, sexual response changes over time, and they should be less perfectionist regarding sex so that they can continue to engage in it and keep an open mind for new sexual practice to develop.
• Other factors that can impact an individual’s perception of his or her sexuality include their family of origin’s influence, religion, and a history of trauma.
• Physical changes that come with age that make typical sexual response more difficult include hardening of arteries, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, hypertension, and obesity.
• Over 40% of older adults take at least 5 medications for chronic illness that can, in turn, have adverse effects on sexual response.
• If a woman feels that she is desirable, she is more likely to feel the desire of sex and intimacy with her partner. Our body image has an impact on how we experience sex.
• Sexual dysfunction is prone to cause relationship distress among older adults. For women, this includes not having an orgasm, having lower drive, and experiencing vaginal pain. For men, this includes lower drive, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and delayed orgasm.
• Subjective arousal is what is going on in a person’s mind. In a sense, a person’s mind is his/her most important sex organ.
• To address vaginal pain, a sex therapist can suggest strengthening the pelvic floor muscles or dilator therapy. Women who have a stronger pelvic floor are more easily aroused and have stronger/more predictable orgasms.
• For a woman with a poor body image, a sex therapist can aid in sending her videos addressing a positive body image to try to present the other side of her negative body talk.
• Sexual dysfunction should be assessed and treated using a bio-psychosocial approach because sexual difficulties are multi-layered and complex. This addresses the psychological, biological, and social aspects of dysfunction.
• Medical methods used to treat erectile dysfunction include PDE5 inhibitors, MUSE, vacuum pumps, intracavenous injections, and surgery.
• If a couple stops engaging in sex, they will then lose intimacy and communication if this continues.
• Considerations for OTs to keep in mind regarding aging and sexual health include activity pacing, task and work simplification, energy conservation, joint protection techniques, ROM, mobility and functional ambulation, pain management, and quality of life.
OT interventions:
• 1:1/individual session: OT can educate client on energy conservation and task simplification techniques in order to encourage that she engages in sexual activity during a time period when she is less fatigued and to ensure that she can simplify techniques and movements used in order to conserve energy and protect joints and other body structures.
• Group: OT and sex therapist can hold a class at an independent living facility in order to educate clients on the typical physiological changes that occur with age that have an effect on sexual health and response and can introduce techniques such as pelvic floor exercises and use of assistive pillows that can help maximize satisfaction in sexual engagement for men and women.
• It is a myth that older populations are asexual is later life. They do experience a gradual decline in sexual activity, but the majority of healthy people with partners remain sexual into their later years.
• Orgasm results in pain relief, stress reduction, and improvements sleep and cognitive functioning in older adults.
• Masturbation can have the same affect as practicing mindfulness as it sharpens the mind even when others are not engaged.
• During menopause, women’s levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels fluctuate, which has a direct impact on their sexual health (i.e., lubrication and vulva thickness both decrease). In men, testosterone levels and blood flow decline, which makes it difficult for them to obtain/maintain an erection and produce sperm.
• As men and women age, it takes longer and longer to achieve orgasm.
• The Tri-Phasic Model of Sexual Response is different for men and women. In women, sexual response starts with desire, then arousal, and ends with orgasm. In addition, women more commonly desire emotional intimacy and satisfaction within this process, and a cognitive thought/neutral feeling commonly precedes arousal. With men, sexual response begins with desire and then moves to arousal and orgasm.
• If a woman has biologically decreased sexual desire, it is very common for her partner to assume that she is not attracted to him.
• Men commonly view many areas of their life as a competition and hold themselves to the standard that they should be skilled at everything. Therefore, this commonly carries over into sexual relations and can lead to them feeling incompetent if they do not perform as well as they think they should sexually. However, men that stay sexual throughout their lifetime are more flexible in their sexual thoughts.
• If men think there could be a chance of compromised sexual functioning with a partner, they will not engage in sexual activity at all.
• There are keys to sexual intimacy for those living in the later years of their life. For women, desire often happens through a process, therefore they should not necessarily wait for that drive before they engage. For men, sexual response changes over time, and they should be less perfectionist regarding sex so that they can continue to engage in it and keep an open mind for new sexual practice to develop.
• Other factors that can impact an individual’s perception of his or her sexuality include their family of origin’s influence, religion, and a history of trauma.
• Physical changes that come with age that make typical sexual response more difficult include hardening of arteries, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, hypertension, and obesity.
• Over 40% of older adults take at least 5 medications for chronic illness that can, in turn, have adverse effects on sexual response.
• If a woman feels that she is desirable, she is more likely to feel the desire of sex and intimacy with her partner. Our body image has an impact on how we experience sex.
• Sexual dysfunction is prone to cause relationship distress among older adults. For women, this includes not having an orgasm, having lower drive, and experiencing vaginal pain. For men, this includes lower drive, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, and delayed orgasm.
• Subjective arousal is what is going on in a person’s mind. In a sense, a person’s mind is his/her most important sex organ.
• To address vaginal pain, a sex therapist can suggest strengthening the pelvic floor muscles or dilator therapy. Women who have a stronger pelvic floor are more easily aroused and have stronger/more predictable orgasms.
• For a woman with a poor body image, a sex therapist can aid in sending her videos addressing a positive body image to try to present the other side of her negative body talk.
• Sexual dysfunction should be assessed and treated using a bio-psychosocial approach because sexual difficulties are multi-layered and complex. This addresses the psychological, biological, and social aspects of dysfunction.
• Medical methods used to treat erectile dysfunction include PDE5 inhibitors, MUSE, vacuum pumps, intracavenous injections, and surgery.
• If a couple stops engaging in sex, they will then lose intimacy and communication if this continues.
• Considerations for OTs to keep in mind regarding aging and sexual health include activity pacing, task and work simplification, energy conservation, joint protection techniques, ROM, mobility and functional ambulation, pain management, and quality of life.
OT interventions:
• 1:1/individual session: OT can educate client on energy conservation and task simplification techniques in order to encourage that she engages in sexual activity during a time period when she is less fatigued and to ensure that she can simplify techniques and movements used in order to conserve energy and protect joints and other body structures.
• Group: OT and sex therapist can hold a class at an independent living facility in order to educate clients on the typical physiological changes that occur with age that have an effect on sexual health and response and can introduce techniques such as pelvic floor exercises and use of assistive pillows that can help maximize satisfaction in sexual engagement for men and women.
Comments
Post a Comment