Sexuality & Ageing

Walter Pierre Bouman is a Consultant Psychiatrist-Sexologist at the Nottingham Centre for Gender Dysphoria, UK, and an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor. His work and therapeutic practice both focus on the areas of gender, sex and relationships, with a particular interest on the aging population. Walter is Deputy Editor of Sexual and Relationship Therapy - International Perspectives on Theory, Research and Practice. Peggy J. Kleinplatz is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her book, New Directions in Sex Therapy, was winner of the AASECT 2013 Book Award. Her clinical work focuses on eroticism and transformation. Her current research focuses on optimal sexual experience, with a particular interest in sexual health in the elderly, disabled and marginalized populations.

Introduction - Moving towards understanding greater diversity and fluidity of sexual expression of older people 1. Older women and sexuality – are we still just talking lube? 2. Are sociodemographic characteristics, education and training, and attitudes toward older adults’ sexuality predictive of willingness to assess sexual health in a sample of US psychologists? 3. Sexuality of the ageing female – the underlying physiology 4. Relationships and sexual expression in later life: a biopsychosocial perspective 5. The influence of health over time on psychological distress among older couples: the moderating role of marital functioning 6. Individual and relational contributors to optimal sexual experiences in older men and women 7. The association of an open relationship orientation with health and happiness in a sample of older US adults 8. Sex, desire and pleasure: considering the experiences of older Australian women 9. Social connection, relationships and older lesbian and gay people 10. To date or not to date, that is the question: older single gay men’s concerns about dating 11. Old and desirable: older women’s accounts of ageing bodies in intimate relationships 12. Midlife menopause: male partners talking