Basic human needs relating to sexuality, intimacy, and relationships are important for adults of all ages. However, for older people living in care homes, even the simple, intimate behaviours that many of us take for granted, such as sharing a cuddle with a partner, can become impossible. This can be particularly problematic for residents with cognitive impairment, or high levels of dependency, where issues of safeguarding, personal responsibility, and capacity to consent add complexity. Residents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) may face additional challenges, such as judgement, discrimination and social exclusion from others.
In this seminar, we will be focussing on some of the issues that care homes face in trying to support residents with their sexuality and intimacy needs, and the innovative solutions that are being proposed. Dr Laura Brown will present recent work done by the Older People’s Understanding of Sexuality’ (OPUS) research team on skilling up care home staff to better support their residents’ sexuality and intimacy needs. Beverley Page-Banks will share the outputs of a recent Alzheimer’s Society Innovation project on meeting the sex and intimacy needs of people living with dementia. Neil Allen will talk about human rights and mental capacity around intimate relationships.
The event will be chaired by Dr Christine Brown Wilson from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University in Belfast, who is a registered nurse with an international research profile in ageing and dementia.
Seminar Itinerary:
13:00 - 14:00 - Free Networking Lunch
14:00 - 14:10- Introduction - general introduction by chair (Dr Christine Brown Wilson)
14:10 - 14:35 - Speaker 1 – Dr Laura Brown
14:35 - 15:00 - Speaker 2 – Beverley Page-Banks
15:00 - 15:25 - Speaker 3– Neil Allen
15:25 - 15:55 - Q&As with the panel of speakers
15:55 - 16:00 – Closing Comments
Speakers
Dr Laura Brown
Role: Lecturer in Psychology
Organisation: University of Manchester
Beverley Page-Banks
Role: Programme Development Manager of the Alzheimer’s Society Innovation Team
Organisation: Alzheimer’s Society
Neil Allen
Role: Senior Lecturer in Law
Organisation: University of Manchester
Dr Christine Brown Wilson
Role: Professor of Nursing and member of OPUS research team
Organisation: Queen’s University, Belfast
