Australia is one of the most prosperous countries in the world at the moment, and our standards of living are definitely on the up. One of the measures of that standard of living is that we’re all living longer. Is it any surprise then that our older citizens are making the most of it?
There’s been an absolute boom in the number of our older members on this and other on-line dating sites. Should we be surprised? Not at all, and it’s not as if the fires of passion are burning any less brightly – especially with access to hormone treatments and virility drugs so much easier these days if they do need a bit of a helping hand.
There are a couple of downsides however that are part and parcel of the way they’ve lived and grown. New studies have revealed that more senior Australians tend to have a lower amount of knowledge of safe sex precautions. In part this comes from their being past their reproductive years, so many aren’t as insistent on the use of condoms. As a result, this has led to the highest rising rates of sexually transmitted infections of any age group among older Australians.
A lot of this can be traced to their upbringing and history. Older Aussies have tended to grow up back in a time when it was far more normal for people to marry the first person they ever took as a sexual partner, and back then there really wasn’t much in the way of sex education in school.
Education is therefore increasingly needed – not just for older daters who may not realise the risks that they’re exposing themselves to, but also for those who care for them. Many nursing homes are increasingly unsure about how to manage sexual activity among their clients, whether it’s dealing with requests for double beds or by families wanting to arrange visits from professional sex workers.
So it’s not just old dogs needing to learn old tricks, we all need to take on board that our sex lives don’t stop with the arrival of silver hair and plan accordingly.