Senior citizens in retirement communities, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities face the dangers of unsafe sex. As alluded by Ezekiel Emanuel, people imagine that the main events in such facilities include bingo, crossword puzzles, quiet reading, and even shuffleboard. Thus, it is crucial for social health workers to prioritizecounseling in line with safe sex as well as screening for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) and HIV (Emanuel, 2014).

When I was volunteering in a nursing home, I found out that most of the health concerns were based on new infections due to unprotected sex. A majority of those who asked for HIV screening were males, thus painting a picture of the sexual activity that takes place in such facilities. As a nurse, one should not ignore the fact that the elderly are still vulnerable to STDs and HIV despite their age.

A crucial intervention is to focus on awareness programs which would ensure that the members of the geriatric population do not risk their lives in unprotected sex. The first is to train them on the use of condoms and regular screening for STDs. This would be followed up by the distribution of condoms to avert the spread of HIV and other STDs (Jarvis, 2016). Most of the postmenopausal women who are part of the geriatric population tend to be reluctant in using condoms since they believe that they are safe from getting pregnant. Through proper awareness, they will be sure that they are risking their lives due to infections.

Finally, I would ensure that the nurses and social workers in such facilities relate well with the patients so that the latter can open up. This way, their concerns can be dealt with, thus, averting new infections.

References

Emanuel, E. (2014). The New York Times. Sex and the Single Senior. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/emanuel-sex-and-the-single-senior.html?_r=0

Jarvis, C. (2016). Physical examination & health assessment (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier

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