Palliative Care, Intimacy, and Sexual Expression in the Older Adult Residential Care Context: “Living Until You Don’t”
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Cook, Catherine
Henrickson, Mark
Schouten, Vanessa
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MDPI AG
Abstract
Commonly, frail older adults move to residential care, a liminal space that is their home, sometimes a place of death, and a workplace. Residential facilities typically espouse person-centred values, which are variably interpreted. A critical approach to person-centred care that focuses on social citizenship begins to address issues endemic in diminishing opportunities for intimacy in the end-of-life residential context: risk-averse policies; limited education; ageism; and environments designed for staff convenience. A person-centred approach to residents’ expressions of intimacy and sexuality can be supported throughout end-of-life care. The present study utilised a constructionist methodology to investigate meanings associated with intimacy in the palliative and end-of-life care context. There were 77 participants, including residents, family members and staff, from 35 residential facilities. Analysis identified four key themes: care home ethos and intimacy; everyday touch as intimacy; ephemeral intimacy; and intimacy mediated by the built environment. Residents’ expressions of intimacy and sexuality are supported in facilities where clinical leaders provide a role-model for a commitment to social citizenship. Ageism, restrictive policies, care-rationing, functional care, and environmental hindrances contribute to limited intimacy and social death. Clinical leaders have a pivotal role in ensuring person-centred care through policies and practice that support residents’ intimate reciprocity.
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Person-centred care, Social citizenship, Social death, Sexual expression, Aged residential care
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(20), 13080. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013080
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Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Open access.
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Open access.
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)