Take out the teeth dear, it's time for some hanky panky

26 February 2017 - 02:00 By BONGANI MTHETHWA and SUTHENTIRA GOVENDER
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If they're not tottering off to bingo or afternoon tea, they're dozing in front of the TV, right?

Wrong. The image of doddering octogenarians with nothing better to do than the crossword puzzle has been challenged by a new study showing that what old people have on their minds much of the time is sex.

In fact, according to the report, not only are South Africa's senior citizens - some well into their 80s - crocheting and playing bridge, they are having casual sex, sometimes with multiple partners.

Some also indulge in risky sexual behaviour by not using condoms.

The lead author of the paper is Molly Rosenberg, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Indiana University's School of Public Health, who conducted the research in collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand and Harvard University.

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The study looked at sexual risk-taking and HIV prevalence among older adults in sub-Saharan Africa.

Rosenberg said sexual activity in older adults was not surprising at all. "That older adults maintain sexual relationships after age 40 and beyond is a normal continuation of their sexual lives as young adults.

"A fulfilling sex life can be important for health and wellbeing at any age," she said.

Margie van Zyl, chairwoman of the South African Care Forum, an NGO serving older people, said: "People don't lose their sexuality just because they get older.

"The issue of ageing and sexuality is a conversation that we need to be having in South Africa because old-age homes struggle to deal with this.

"Couples are often split up in old-age homes or there is no privacy for them to be intimate and this is just frustrating. It is a conversation that is difficult to have because of stereotypes around old people."

Sexologist Elna McIntosh said: "Viagra has given new life to older men. They are dating at an advanced age.

"The old men are having a great time at the old-age homes - women tend to outnumber men 10 to one."

Clinical sexologist and sex therapist Dr Marlene Wasserman said many older people were throwing sexual caution to the wind because they did not know any better.

"For years we have known that your highest risk for HIV is among people who are 50-plus. The education around HIV is geared towards schoolchildren. There is so much ageism, you are absolutely not considered to be a sexual person, so nobody is going to talk to you about sexuality," she said.

"Older people kind of kick back. People are put into homes and this is where this kind of behaviour takes place, because they have access to each other.

"It's a fantastic environment to want to be sexual. There's a ready source of partners. The rules of commitment, fidelity and marriage don't really apply here and so they have multiple partners," said Wasserman.

block_quotes_start The stereotype that older people are not having sex is a myth, so HIV prevention programmes appropriate for this age group are vital block_quotes_end

Researchers analysed data from 5059 people aged 40 and older in Mpumalanga. More than half reported having had at least one sexual partner within the past two years.

The study found that as people got older, they tended to maintain multiple sexual partners. As they aged they also stopped using condoms and had fewer casual partners.

McIntosh said older people generally did not think of HIV/Aids as something that could happen to them.

"Older people tend to think it's confined to prostitutes, drug addicts and gay people. They don't think they are at risk," she said. "Millennials are born in the era of HIV ... with older people, from 60 and over, it's different. Take an elderly woman who has lost her husband - she has never used condoms and has slept with one person her whole life."

Professors Stephen Tollman and Kathleen Kahn, who specialise in rural health research at Wits, said it was normal for older adults to have sex.

"They are engaging in behaviour that is normal for all of us. We don't always understand what is risky," said Tollman.

Added Kahn: "The stereotype that older people are not having sex is a myth, so HIV prevention programmes appropriate for this age group are vital."

Don't forget the condom dear, when you're asked to remove your teeth.

mthethwab@sundaytimes.co.za, govendersu@sundaytimes.co.za

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