Picture a South Florida retiree. What comes to mind?
Perhaps the smiling face of a woman knitting underneath a palm tree or maybe a man golfing with some buddies.
Now, picture them having unprotected sex.
I’m pretty sure lots of people twisted their faces in disgust or maybe just shook their heads in denial. Old people don’t have sex, right?
In a 2007 article in the LA Times, the over-50 crowd is a relatively small segment of the nation's at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. Approximately four times as many HIV diagnoses occurred in people ages 25 to 44 as in those 50 and older, according to a 2005 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, medical experts agree that older Americans often are among the most overlooked and, therefore, one of the more vulnerable populations.
Just ask Jane Fowler.
She was a 47 divorcee just trying to move on with her life. She dated men that she knew and didn’t think she had any cause to worry. She didn’t think it could happen to her.
At 55, she was diagnosed with HIV.
After the shocking news, she withdrew from family and friends. Then, after four years of hiding, she fought back and started speaking out about HIV prevention among older people.
Fowler’s story shows us that our own social discomfort is getting in the way of helping people live safer and healthier lives.
Becoming a “senior citizen” is a state of mind these days. Just because someone is retired doesn’t mean they’re dead.
Medicine is working miracles, in ways big and small, for these people. It’s keeping them alive longer, it’s making them stronger and, in the case of Viagra and Cialis— commonly used erectile dysfunction drugs—it’s making it even easier to have an extended sex life.
Growing up in a different generation with a different social view of sex is making it difficult to talk to the people who need to be educated the most.
Some who grew up in the 40s and 50s still think of it as a disease that only gay men get, as something that could never happen to them.
Even more heartbreaking, perhaps they just don’t know how to start the conversation. The baby boomers grew up in a conservative time when sex was a private matter, but it was rarely discussed. Certainly, they all felt safe when they were in a monogamous relationship.
Perhaps the smiling face of a woman knitting underneath a palm tree or maybe a man golfing with some buddies.
Now, picture them having unprotected sex.
I’m pretty sure lots of people twisted their faces in disgust or maybe just shook their heads in denial. Old people don’t have sex, right?
In a 2007 article in the LA Times, the over-50 crowd is a relatively small segment of the nation's at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. Approximately four times as many HIV diagnoses occurred in people ages 25 to 44 as in those 50 and older, according to a 2005 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Still, medical experts agree that older Americans often are among the most overlooked and, therefore, one of the more vulnerable populations.
Just ask Jane Fowler.
She was a 47 divorcee just trying to move on with her life. She dated men that she knew and didn’t think she had any cause to worry. She didn’t think it could happen to her.
At 55, she was diagnosed with HIV.
After the shocking news, she withdrew from family and friends. Then, after four years of hiding, she fought back and started speaking out about HIV prevention among older people.
Fowler’s story shows us that our own social discomfort is getting in the way of helping people live safer and healthier lives.
Becoming a “senior citizen” is a state of mind these days. Just because someone is retired doesn’t mean they’re dead.
Medicine is working miracles, in ways big and small, for these people. It’s keeping them alive longer, it’s making them stronger and, in the case of Viagra and Cialis— commonly used erectile dysfunction drugs—it’s making it even easier to have an extended sex life.
Growing up in a different generation with a different social view of sex is making it difficult to talk to the people who need to be educated the most.
Some who grew up in the 40s and 50s still think of it as a disease that only gay men get, as something that could never happen to them.
Even more heartbreaking, perhaps they just don’t know how to start the conversation. The baby boomers grew up in a conservative time when sex was a private matter, but it was rarely discussed. Certainly, they all felt safe when they were in a monogamous relationship.
Older women who are newly single, whether through divorce or a spouse’s death, don’t seem to be aware of the dangers when embarking upon their own new sex life. They figure menopause has taken away the worry of getting pregnant so there’s no need to wear a condom.
Even more disturbing, most doctors don’t think of it either. They just think their patient is getting old.
People are just uncomfortable and don’t want to talk to someone who could be their grandparent about having sex.
But it's happening. So it’s time we take notice and talk about it. It’s time for us to get over it. The elderly are having sex. And instead of dying of old age, AIDS is killing them.
Is our community truly willing to stand back and watch these people suffer because we’re uncomfortable with the idea of a simple conversation?
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