They May Be Older, But They're Not Dead!

The nursing home industry comes in second to nuclear power plants in regulations, but none of those regulations address the sexuality of the residents, who are still very much alive and full of sexual needs and desires. This is the revelation that researchers from Kansas State University discovered when they investigated how nursing home residents' sexuality was being handled by the nursing home employees, according to a recent AP article by Margaret Stafford.

At first, the researchers were met with silence when they were exploring this topic, but that silence soon turned to disbelief once they began conducting seminars with the aim of training nursing home staffs to understand the residents' needs and help them in meeting those needs. The training helped staff members in identifying appropriate sexual behaviors and employing different strategies to accommodate residents.

Giving lonely residents the help they need in fulfilling their sexual needs is important, but staff members also need to be able to recognize when a resident is being abused, especially when you factor in the mental diseases that affect the elderly and their perception, such as Alzheimer's. This is where federal guidelines should be implemented because without a reference for what actions to take in different situations, positive or negative, nursing home employees and the family members of residents will be lost when it comes to helping their elderly relatives enjoy their last days to the fullest extent possible.