Perception of elderly women on sexuality: implications of gender and nursing care

Abstract

This research presents the perception of older women about their sexuality and examines the gender implications in aging females and nursing care. This qualitative study was conducted in 2008 in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with 15 elderly women. To collect the data it was used participant observation and interviews. The data were analyzed and speeches were grouped into three categories: motherhood: elderly women’s life; aging: experiencing changes and challenges. Beyond the Gender: dating and companionship. We were let to conclude that the women demonstrate difficulty in expressing their sexuality, experiencing conflict, confusing sex, sexual relationship and sexuality. Facing the different situations we can suggest that health professionals, during consultations, should value gender issues in the female population with more advanced age and life experiences.