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Why do peopleon this board think it is OK that people with dementia are having sex at memory care facilities?



It seems like a demented person's behavior and verbal abuse are blamed on dementia. They can't legally sign documents or live alone or bathe or control their bowels etc but people posting in other threads think its great when they are having sex. I dont understand the disconnect here regarding sex being OK but not anything else.

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Part of the "activities" available to the residents.
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I do see your point in that "can they consent". But I also know it happens. I really would like to think the staff monitors this type of activity and curtails it as much as possible. Especially if a person acts like they don't want that attention. Really, don't u think an elderly man would have problems in that area. I doubt the staff would give him viagra. And a woman bedbound would be vulnerable so the staff should be aware if a male was paying any undo attention to her.

My daughter worked 20 yrs in NHs as an LPN and then an RN. What are you going to do when two people who think they are married or GF and BF. Very hard to tell them otherwise.

I really don't think anyone is advocating that a male resident be allowed to have sex with all the female residents because he wants to. I have seen some aggressive women too.

Lets give our Healthcare staff some brains here. They see these residents on a daily basis. They see 2 residents who have latched onto each other and that progresses. They also see the female (or male) resident who does not like the attention of another resident. Do you really think they will allow the interested resident to infringe on the uninterested residents rights? I so hope they would redirect the interested resident from the uninterested one.

I have reported a man for touching a women who looked like she was a stroke victim and could not ask him to stop. He was sitting next to her stroking her face. I knew the man who was a client at one time and always trying to touch the nurses. He ended up at Moms AL and took an interest in Mom. At that point she did not like men or to be touched. He told me he was her boyfriend and I told him I didn't think so. Staff was told he was not to go near my Mom. They all were aware of his touching. He ended up in rehab with her. Again I said keep him away from Mom. A SW said he had rights, I said so did my Mom. I had an aide walk over and said she would keep an eye on Mom. It took 2 aides to go into his room because of him being touchy feely. My Mom knew him from long ago and said he was a dirty old man then. Even with Dementia she knew she didn't like him.
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Cover999 Nov 2022
I find this comical when some members here laud putting demented elders in these facilities because they will be cared for, safe, have activities and be around people their own age, yet if said people take an interest in each other and want to have sex, then no. Any other activities except that one LOL
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If their brain is broken, why do they still eat or walk or breathe? The brain controls all of those, too.

Obviously the brain isn't entirely broken, and to deny someone affection just because they have dementia is cruel. I doubt everything "works," anyway, so what you see as sex might be very different than reality.
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When has sex been a bad thing? When there is none! or okay maybe when it's taken... but there could be thousands of reasons why or what triggers these bodily functions ...my bet would be it could be medicines. and just because they are old doesn't mean their dead! Maybe talking to their Dr. on this subject might help you understand.
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My mom hasn't had sex in who knows how long so if she were doing it now, with dementia, I'd be calling it rape. She can not and would not consent.

If both parties are into, fine, whatever. But how can you really know if they know what the heck is going on??
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SP19690, your profile, posted last year, says you are “Just getting prepared for the day NM asks me to take care of her. She is 74 and still in good health”. It sounds as though you and NM have few problems, and your caring experience is quite limited. Why are you so keen on telling us all your views? Based on what???
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sp19690 Nov 2022
And? I need all these daily reminders because my mother is very manipulative and I know how easy it would be to get sucked into what others are going through. It's also a great resource for how to navigate the whole system should the time come. More people should get prepared it would save them a lot of stress and from making mistakes that wreck their health physically and mentally anpd ruin families.

Learning about demented sex being ok and encouraged by some furthers my resolve to never let myself get so far along should I ever get this disease to be placed in a facility. To be some weird old horny lady who makes sexual advances to the nursing home workers or other old people in the place would make me sick. Of course I wouldn't be in my normal right mind if i was doing that but i never want to be that disgusting senior who has no filters or inhibitions because dementia took that away and made be some hypersexual weirdo in my old age.
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sp19690,

I agree with you wholeheartedly and I too have a very hard time with anyone who thinks it's ok for vulnerable people to be victims of sexual abuse. In the case of an MC unit, neither the perpetrator nor the victim (seemingly willingly or not) are able to effectively refuse or further sexual advances that family would be horrified over.

Were I informed of or viewed any specific incident of sexual activity, I would immediately report to the Aging services because we're talking about impaired people.

That's not to say that residents can't and don't form quite innocent bonds and believe others to be a spouse, but in my personal and professional experience, this is closely monitored to prevent any vulnerable person being taken advantage of.

I find it maddening that anyone is alright with non-spousal sexual activity happening in any care setting. Ever.

Allow me to add that I'm a retired RN who has worked in a wide range of care settings for half a century, having started as a CNA in my teens. I have never seen these behaviors and would act immediately to stop it. My mother is in a MC unit and it's among the things the residents are monitored for. People make it sound as though it's rampant and even go so far as saying that 'if you only knew, yada, yada.'

It's unconscionable to condone it or promote its acceptance, in my experience and steadfast opinion.
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sp19690 Nov 2022
Thank you Luta for your reasonable and sensible perspective. I agree. I just can't understand all these people thinking its awesome for two people with dementia or Alzheimer's to be having sex which neither can fully consent to. Especially if one is in a more advanced stage of the disease then the other.
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Their brains are broken, not their you-know-whats.
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Sp, when you actually become a caregiver and see the people in facilities, you will be able to understand this subject.

You will never get it until you live it. So it is kinda pointless, IMO, to be so angry about it. It isn't anything like you imagine.
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At one time I toured a few assisted living facilities and one memory care facility, in case my mom would have needed memory care in the future.

In the memory care facility I went to see, the head nurse showed me around.

We sat in the activities room to conclude our discussion. There were several couples holding hands and seemed to be enjoying each other’s company. They seemed to have formed a special bond with each other, which is better then being lonely.

I was told that many of the residents found connections with other residents and that some of the residents considered themselves to be a ‘couple.’

The facility monitored their residents and the head nurse said that they were not allowed in each other’s rooms. I have no idea how strictly this was enforced. I suppose it depends on each individual facility.

In our state it is legal to place cameras in residents rooms. So, I suppose if you were concerned about this and your state allowed cameras then you could place a camera in the room to monitor for yourself.

The hospice home where my mom was had cameras in all of the common areas as well as the residents rooms.
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Found this on a UK site:
What does the law say about mental capacity and sex?
In England and Wales, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 says that a person is able to make a decision for themselves if they are able to do all of the following:

*understand information that is relevant to the decision
*retain that information long enough to be able to make the decision
*weigh up that information to make the decision
*communicate their decision by any possible means, such as talking, using sign language or using simple movements such as blinking an eye or squeezing a hand.

If they can do these, then they are able to consent. If they are not able to do one or more of these due to an ‘impairment or disturbance in the functioning of the mind or brain’ – for example, dementia – then they would lack capacity to make that decision at that time. They are not able to consent.
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Fawnby says: And their capacity to meet the criteria will change day to day, even minute by minute. So will the capacity of the person who is seeking consent, if they both have dementia.
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It could be like the story another member posted where the demented husband killed and mutilated his wife? Don't know if sex was involved,but sad nonetheless.
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What if it's a dementia patient at home with a husband or wife? Can they legally consent? If not, who'd police it? Same same as a facility in terms of consent, right? Let's clarify the legal parameters for dementia patients, period.
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Luta65 Nov 2022
Fawnby,
No need for us to reinvent the wheel here, the parameters for dementia are very well established: they're vulnerable and thought and emotions are impaired. Ergo: unable to consent.
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Sex is not just about the brain (including mental consent), it’s also about feelings. A person with dementia can be hungry, and can eat. If they don’t want to eat, they close their mouth or spit it out (believe me on that one). A person with dementia can like the physical feelings that come with sex, just as they are OK about eating when they are hungry. They probably don’t remember their last meal, which doesn't mean that they didn't want it.

Elderly people (even without dementia) often regret their lack of physical contact – it’s one of the reasons they like to cuddle grandchildren or pets. If they don’t want physical contact, they can shout, scream, fight. Unfortunately they often do when they don’t like having a diaper changed!

It should normally be fairly obvious when sex (or even holding hands) is OK or not OK.
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I agree there are consent issues. Can someone with dementia consent? How do we define their ability to consent? How bad does their dementia have to be before we say she can't consent? If she is smiling and holding hands with a male resident in the dining room, that does not necessarily equal consent to sexual activity. But no matter how the issue plays out in a memory facility, it's guaranteed the facility will place the blame or responsibility on the residents and the residents' families. The facility will say, "It's a privacy issue." Or, "They have a right to have a relationship." Or, "We can't watch them every minute." I know this from experience.
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Sex is a form of affection. If two people with dementia are having sex, who's to say that's a bad thing?? When I worked in a Memory Care ALF, there were residents who would hang out together and hold hands all day, snuggle up together, and what they did behind closed doors was really nobody's business.

These elders have already had their entire lives destroyed by dementia/Alzheimers, are living in managed care where their entire lives are structured FOR them, why must you put even MORE regulations on them...for what reason? Because you feel it's disgusting or inappropriate for them to share affection?

Bad/ugly behavior and verbal abuse is not a good or a happy thing. Sex is an expression of love or happiness and not considered a bad thing. This is where I think YOU have a disconnect, personally. Who's getting harmed if two elders with dementia are having sex together? Vs. who's getting harmed if two elders with dementia are screaming obscenities at one another or fist fighting? One behavior is harmful while the other is not.

My mother lived in Memory Care AL for nearly 3 years. If she was snuggled up with a man and they were showing affection to one another, I would not have had a meltdown over it. I would have been happy that my mother was finding SOME happiness in her life that had turned to sheer, unadulterated MISERY at that point. I am sorry, in fact, that she did not find love during her stay in Memory Care.
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sp19690 Nov 2022
So if you had gone to visit your mom in the facility and a man was leaving her room just as you got there and you found mom naked in her bed or her pants off while she was in her wheel chair you would have been OK with that? Especially when you asked her what was going on and why she was naked and she didn't know why. Doubtful. How many women and men these facilities have been sexually assaulted or taken advantage of simply because they have dementia or alzheimer's? You and all the people that up voted your reply are very sick individuals.

My question was not about holding hands or a smooch in public. Just as a person passed out drunk legally cannot consent to sex neither can a person with dementia or Alzheimer's.
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