Married Couples Hardest Hit By Alzheimers
Posted November 19, 2007
The sheer number of Baby Boomers may alter that perception and the way nursing homes approach issues of intimacy, said Peter Notarstefano, director of home and community - based services for the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which has 5,700 members. “We have 2 million people living in nursing homes. About 60 percent have dementia of some sort,” he said. “By 2030, we’re going to have about 5 million because of the Baby Boomers, and we better do something about it. They’re going to want more freedom. We will have more sexually active adults going into their 80s and also people with less taboos about sex. So it’s going to be more of an issue.” Another issue is establishing that both parties involved in a relationship are consenting. Nursing home staff can determine this, through observation, even if the patients can’t verbally affirm or deny it, said Alzheimer’s experts.
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