Abstract
Objective
To identify nursing home (NH) standards related to sexual activity and sexual relationships
for residents through a nationwide survey of directors of nursing (DONs).
Methods
A national survey was distributed online and was completed by 366 DONs of skilled
nursing facilities. The DONs answered questions concerning policies and experiences
related to sexual activities of their residents including types of resident sexual
activity they have encountered, perceptions about residents with dementia engaging
in sexual activity, and policies pertaining to sexual activity including masturbation.
Results
The results of the survey demonstrated that the vast majority (71.2%) indicated that
there had been issues regarding residents' sexual activities in their facilities with
over one-half (58%) of the DONs reporting situations of resident with resident sexual
activity and 60% with situations of resident masturbation. More than one-half (56.6%)
require a family or designated representative to approve sexual activity for a cognitively
impaired resident. For a cognitively intact resident, 12.4% of facilities still require
family or designated representative to approve sexual activity. However, despite the
prevalence of sexual activity, the majority of NHs (63.4%) actually do not have policies
dealing with resident sexual activity. Of the NHs with policies, 58.6% have written
policies in place, with 11.2% requiring a physician order to allow sexual activity
and 9.5% requiring a physician order to restrict sexual activity.
Conclusions
Issues related to sexual activity in NH residents are quite prevalent, however, the
rates of policies related to sexual activity are low and the policies and restrictions
are not uniform. Our study suggests nursing homes should have a clear policy addressing
resident sexual activity. It would be beneficial for such a policy to be communicated
to residents and their families as part of an admission package instead of waiting
for sexual interest to be noticed. This would enable residents to engage in sexual
activity with understanding and support rather than hiding.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 02, 2015
Footnotes
The research was solely funded through the Mayes College of Health Care Business and Policy at the University of the Sciences. The sponsors had no role in study design, implementation, data analysis, or manuscript preparation. The survey that serves as the basis for this report was conducted with the assistance of National Association Directors of Nursing Administration/Long-Term Care (NADONA/LTC). A shorter version of this paper directed toward Directors of Nursing is planned for the NADONA journal called The Director.
All authors have verified the references and all authors bear responsibility for the accuracy of the references cited.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
