Residential care home provides ‘pleasure basket’ for elderly to embrace intimacy
LOS ANGELES: A care home now provides pleasure baskets to enable its elderly residents to better embrace intimacy.
The elderly can buy sex toys from the home’s ‘pleasure basket’.
In the basket, there are different creams and lubricants. There are dildos, penis pumps, penis rings and the like.
According to the facility director, Liselott Klang, the programme aims to “allow the individual to remain an individual even when moving into a nursing home”.
When a new person moves in, they’re offered an informal discussion on intimacy and desire. For Liselott, sexual health is not just about sex. It is about intimacy and closeness.
“They have [given] positive reaction, a lot of humour, curiosity but also, a certain type of shyness,” she added.
“Previously, employees didn’t feel comfortable when they saw a resident masturbating in public or really couldn’t understand why someone needed help booking a hotel room,” Liselott explained.
Care assistant Emilie Nilsson said the programme was initially met with some apprehension. “It was a bit scary at first. But the more you work on it, the more you understand that it’s not just about sex. It’s about closeness and that everyone needs a hug.”
An article by National Institute on Aging suggested that many older couples find greater satisfaction in their sex lives than when they were younger. “They may have fewer distractions, more time and privacy, and no worries about getting pregnant. They also may be better able to express what they want and need, which can offer an opportunity for greater intimacy and connection.”
It further states, “Aging brings life transitions that can create opportunities for older adults to redefine what sexuality and intimacy mean to them. Some older adults strive for both a sexual and intimate relationship, some are content with one without the other, and still, others may choose to avoid these types of connections.”