Resum
Aims and objectives. To explore staff attitudes and reactions towards masturbation in long-term care facilities. Background. Staff attitudes and reactions towards the expression of sexuality in long-term care facilities may be influenced by the nature of the sexual behavior being expressed. Staff attitudes towards masturbation, a common sexual behaviour
in such settings, have gone largely unexplored so far. Design. An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative research design.
Methods. Fifty-three staff members working in five different long-term care facilities
participated in the study. They were asked about what they would think,
how they would react, and what possible reactions they might expect from workmates
if they entered a room and found a resident masturbating. Results. The majority of participants considered that masturbation was acceptable and avoiding interference was by far the most common reaction, although other
reactions also arose. When asked about reactions attributed to workmates, mentions
to reprimanding the resident and gossiping/joking about the issue were more
frequent than acceptance. Conclusions. The discrepancy between professionals’ own reported attitudes and
those attributed to workmates suggests the existence of widespread negative reactions
towards sexual activity in later life.
Relevance to clinical practice. In the light of these results, we underline the necessity
of developing explicit policies regarding sexual issues. Formal training offered
to staff would also help to recognise and preserve resident’s sexual rights and
needs. (Extraído del documento)