The Elephant in the Room - A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Older Adults' Sexuality

Adina Cismaru-Inescu; Stéphane Adam; Anne Nobels; Philippe Kempeneers; Marie Beaulieu; Christophe Vandeviver; Ines Keygnaert; Laurent Nisen

doi:10.1080/19317611.2021.1958040

The Elephant in the Room - A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Older Adults' Sexuality

Int J Sex Health. 2021 Aug 13;34(1):90-104. doi: 10.1080/19317611.2021.1958040. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Adina Cismaru-Inescu^{1

2}, Stéphane Adam², Anne Nobels³, Philippe Kempeneers⁴, Marie Beaulieu⁵, Christophe Vandeviver^{6

7}, Ines Keygnaert³, Laurent Nisen¹

Affiliations

¹ CARE-ESPRIst, Studies and Evaluations, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
² Psychology of Aging Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
³ International Centre for Reproductive Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴ Faculty of Psychology, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
⁵ School of Social Work and Research Centre on Aging, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada.
⁶ Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁷ Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO), Belgium.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to explore past studies that have focused exclusively on the sexuality of adults older than 65 from a positive public health approach.

Methods: We performed a critical interpretive synthesis, starting with the literature review on sexual behaviors in later life, adding policy documents on aging sexuality, and bringing new perspectives.

Results: Older adults continue to be sexually active. Healthcare professionals lack knowledge and communication skills surrounding aging sexuality and no policies before 2013 mention aging sexuality.

Conclusions: We posit that society's view of later life sexuality reflects on practice, policies, and research on this topic, which influence back society's view.

Keywords: Older adults; critical interpretive synthesis; sexual behavior; sexuality.

Grants and funding

C.V.’s contribution to this work was supported in part by the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO) Postdoctoral Fellowship funding scheme under Grants 12C0616N to C.V.