(NB: the price for this event has been reduced to
$75 for LIFE Members)
The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) and the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community (CRNCC) are partnering to mount a groundbreaking full day symposium
Keep on Rockin’: Sexuality and Aging in Richmond Hill, Ontario on
October 20th, 2009.
This is the 5th event in our annual series of fall symposia, highlighting crucial issues in Home and Community Care on a global scale.
The Ontario Community Support Association is the voice of home and community support service agencies in Ontario. These services include services like in home nursing, therapy and personal support services, Meals on Wheels, Adult/Alzheimer Day Programs, Transportation to medical appointments, Supportive Housing and Attendant Services for persons with disabilities.
The Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community is based at
Ryerson University but has numerous university, community and government partners. It is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Ryerson University. The CRNCC’s mandate is to build and exchange knowledge about the important role of community care within the broad continuum of care, i.e., from institutionally based care in hospitals, Long Term Care facilities to the range of community based care so that people can stay at home.
Sexuality applies to all of us regardless of age*Sexuality means different things to different people. It includes a desire to look good, dress up and feel pampered. It includes romance, sensuality, companionship, relationships, intimacy, sex, sexual identity, sexual orientation, as well as quality of life.
*This is a timely topic since 14% of Canada’s population is 65 years or older and is projected to rise to 25% in 2031.
Expectations of sexuality are shifting
*Aging baby boomers are a significant bulge in population and, as part of the 60s generation, are poised to bust myths around sexuality, aging and sensibilities about sexual orientation and identity.
Current laws and policies governing institutions have not kept pace*Since sexuality is expected to diminish as we get older, there are no standardized rules/ regulations allowing for the expression of sexuality in long term care facilities.
*Do people have “rights” around sexuality if they live in facilities?
*Few facilities have spaces to accommodate couples, or more casual relationships among heterosexual couples, let alone same sex couples.
*Regulations need to be put in place that account for ethics, risk, liabilities, privacy, consent, and facility design.
*Facilities are not designed for privacy.
*What would happen if locks were put on doors?
*There’s little recognition of the need to provide education and training for facility mangers and care providers.
*What about policies around consent? At what point do we deem someone incapable of providing consent for intimate relationships.
* For example, what about those with Alzheimer’s?
We don’t talk about it*Health professionals, personal support workers, providers of LTC and residential facilities, providers of community support services, supportive housing managers, not-to-mention, family members and seniors themselves, are reluctant to talk about sexuality openly and frankly.
*Doctors and other care providers do not routinely ask older people questions about sexuality and sexual health during check-up visits.
*The assumption is that sexuality is not important for older people and not part of their life.
*Only 22% of women and 38% of men had discussed sex with a doctor since age 50 (Lindau et al, 2007).
*Older adults may not feel the need to practice safe sex as they consider condoms merely as methods of birth control (AIDS Calgary Awareness Association, 2007).
*In 2006 in Canada, people over 50+ accounted for 14% of all positive HIV test reports.
*This is ~ double the rate reported in 1985-1998 (Public Health Agency of Canada. (2007). HIV/AIDS Epi updates November 2007. Ottawa: Author.)
Keep on Rockin': Sexuality and Aging brings together leading national and international experts to tackle critical issues around sexuality and aging.
· How are new generations of older persons expressing their sexuality?
· How are care planners and providers responding? How does aging and sexuality impact on care design, delivery and costs? Are there emerging best practices?
· What about risk? How do we balance demands for privacy against patient safety and informed consent particularly for individuals with cognitive deficits?
· How do we prepare front-line caregivers? What can they do to support healthy sexuality? What do they do if confronted by behaviors they perceive as inappropriate from a religious or cultural viewpoint?
For more information on the symposium
click here to view the poster. Please help to spread the word by passing this poster on to your network of colleagues and friends. You can register online now by visiting
http://www.crncc.ca/sexualityandaging.html.
Invited experts from around the world to speak at the symposium.
Speakers and TopicsMerryn Gott has recently moved from the Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing, University of Sheffield, UK to take up a Chair in Health Sciences in the School of Nursing at the University of Auckland, NZ. She has published over 50 academic papers, as well as several books, and regularly presents her work to international audiences of academics, practitioners and policy makers on sexuality, sexual health and aging. In 2005, she published Sexuality, Sexual Health and Ageing, considered internationally to be a leading text in this field.
She will talk about her research on the attitudes of professional providers (primarily doctors and nurses) on sexuality in older people and the implications of those views on clients’ sexuality and sexual health. She closes with advice and notes of caution to policy makers.
Michael Bauer is a lecturer at the La Trobe University, in the Division of Nursing and Midwifery. His areas of expertise are aged care, health assessment, nursing therapeutics. He has published numerous journal articles and other publications. He is a member of Australian Association of Gerontology as well as the Royal College of Nursing in Australia.
Michael Bauer will discuss research findings relevant to institutional settings (policies, and regulations around privacy and sexuality in nursing homes, information on housing home residents and professional providers)
Bill Ryan is faculty member at McGill University in the Department of Social Work. He has written numerous articles, chapters and edited books and has acted as a consultant for the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services, Health Canada, the International Federation of Social Workers, UN AIDS, Christian Children’s Fund, UNICEF and the Canadian AIDS Society on HIV prevention, care, homophobia and sexuality.
Bill Ryan will talk about the experiences and realities of LGBT older people and their health and social care needs based on his ground breaking national research.
Peggy Brick, M.Ed., is an educational consultant specializing in sexuality across the lifespan. She taught Human Sexual Behaviour in high school for fifteen years before becoming Director of Education at Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey. She has received numerous awards for her leadership in the field of human sexuality and has trained thousands of educators and health care professionals across the nation. She is author of over fifty articles on sexuality education. Most recently, she is a co-author of Older, Wiser, Sexually Smarter (2009).
Peggy Brick’s talk will focus on innovative, educational work on sexuality and aging for a range of people and organizations including community agencies, care providers, seniors living in the community and in assisted living/long term care homes and family members.
Devan Nambiar, B.Sc is the Education Coordinator at Rainbow Health Ontario. He has been working in the ethno-racial communities on gay/MSM health issues and in the HIV sector for 20 years. He is a Co-principal Investigator of Improving the Capacity of the HIV Sector to respond to the Ethno-Racial MSM, and co-author of two national publications (CATIE 2005) and contributing author to Managing Your Health (CATIE 2009). Devan currently serves on a number of committees working on HIV/AIDS related issues.
Devan Namiar’s presentation highlights how views about sexuality and aging differ by race, culture, and sexual orientation.
Michele Cauch is the Community and Corporate Development Officer at St. Paul’s L’Amoreaux Centre, an agency providing community services and housing to older adults and seniors in Scarborough, Ontario. Cauch holds a masters degree in Social Work, specializing in older adults and end of life care. Cauch is the founder of SageHealth Network which promotes seniors’ sexual health and positive aging through workshops for older adults, seniors, and caregivers. She has been featured in Toronto Life Magazine, Toronto Star, and CBC Radio’s, The Current.
Michele Cauch will talk about the organizational challenges to implementing programs in sexuality, aging, and privacy, at St. Paul’s (a large community service agency that provides a range of services to a very diverse population).
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Janet M Lum, Ph.D
Graduate Co-Director
Public Policy and Administration
Department of Politics and Public Administration
Co-Chair, Canadian research network for care in the community
http://www.crncc.ca/Réseau canadien de recherche pour les soins dans la communauté (RCRSC)
Ryerson University
350 Victoria Street
Toronto Ontario
M5B 2K3
416-979-5000 x7045 (tel)
416-979-5289 (fax)
