Nursing home sexual health program breaks taboo in Sweden

Niels, 97, reads a pamphlet about the sexuality of older people in a nursing home in the town of Broby, south of Sweden. “How good is this book!” he comments.

The institution accepts 56 people aged 65 to 100 and has been developing a program for almost a year to pensioners lead a fulfilling life… in every sense.

In this tidy space, every resident is offered open discussions about confidentiality and desire from the moment they arrive at the institution.

“At the entrance, the guide person talks to the client and asks him a few questions about sexual health” Lindgården director Liselotte Klang, 54, told AFP.

The person in charge who launched this initiative a year ago wanted her employees to be able to fix the problem without bothering or disturbing them. taboo.

“In the past, some employees felt uncomfortable watching a local masturbate in public or when a couple asked for help booking a hotel room,” he says.

Emily Nilsson, a 39-year-old nurse, was afraid to raise the issue.

“At first it was a little difficult, but as you work on it more, you realize that it’s not just about sex. It’s a matter of proximity,” he says.

“Everyone needs affection. So now you live in the most natural way,” he adds.

sexual health the elderly or the disabled is a slowly emerging problem in several Western countries.

Confidentiality

“Sexual health is about more than just sex, it’s about intimacy,” Klang emphasizes.

The goal is to “allow the person to remain the same despite their arrival at the nursing home,” he adds.

It is easier for residents to resolve the issue directly with medical staff who are attentive to their basic needs.

“As medical staff, we are very close. They are helped with cleaning,” says Luisa Karlsson, one of Lindgården’s managers.

All employees have been trained on this issue by sexologist Suzanne Larsdotter.

“The question, invisible for years, is gradually gaining momentum” in a country that is considered progressive, he congratulates.

“This is a new phenomenon, especially in a society like Sweden where older people are not counted but there is more and more awareness that sexual health is a right for life,” says the therapist.

In the common room, Nils and his friends want to joke about this topic, but as teenagers, they get scared when they have to discuss it with strangers.

“Basket of Pleasure”

Klang emphasizes “positive reactions, lots of humor, curiosity, but also some shyness.”

“There can be weeks between the first conversation and the moment they decide to talk more about it,” he says.

“But often these are deep discussions that mention the pain, absence and nostalgia of the disappeared couple,” he adds.

The main thing, he assures, is that these older people feel heard.

Ghosts, if they exist, should be implemented as far as possible.

“We must be able to explain and show how to fix catheters in order to be able to have sexual relations,” insists the director.

“Every generation thinks its generation is the most active sexually and the one with the most desires,” he says with a certain smile.

And to do away with the complexes of the elderly, the institution has created a “basket of pleasure” that offers creams and sex toys adapted that residents can get.

In the basket, “you’ll find ‘Thank you for not disturbing’, various creams and lubricants, dildos, penis pumps, penis rings and other things like that,” Karlsson lists. (AFP)