Health Benefits
It has been suggested that an active sex life can increase longevity amongst the elderly. Indeed in the United Kingdom, a government health adviser even went so far as to officially promote the advantages to the elderly of such behaviour. STDs are also prevalent in later life despite common misconceptions that STDs only affect younger people groups. There has actually been a steady increase in the number of STDs found in elderly individuals in nursing homes and other residential living communities, belying the perception that elderly people do not engage in sexual activity. Many men in older age do not believe they need to use protection such as condoms as they age and their partners often feel likewise, so it can be difficult to stress the importance of continued use of protection for elderly couples.
Read more about this topic: Sexuality In Older Age
Famous quotes containing the words health and/or benefits:
“However strongly they resist it, our kids have to learn that as adults we need the companionship and love of other adults. The more direct we are about our needs, the easier it may be for our children to accept those needs. Their jealousy may come from a fear that if we adults love each other we might not have any left for them. We have to let them know that it’s a different kind of love.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)