Conceptions of sexuality and their impacts on health among older women

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to understand how older women perceive and experience sexuality at this stage of life, as well as the impacts generated by these experiences. Methodology: This is a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive analysis, with the participation of sixteen women registered at a Health Unit who underwent preventive examination in the last year. Results: Data were collected through participant characterization and two trigger questions, and, based on thematic content analysis, a discussion was conducted grounded in the relevant literature. Thus, the following categories were obtained: sexuality and its intimate relationship with age and temporality; loneliness and the impact of the lack of sexuality; family influence on women's sexuality. Conclusion: Older women, in general, share the common sense of conceiving sexuality as a practice belonging to youth and the present. Several aspects influence the existence of sexuality in the life of an elderly woman, whether positive or negative, such as family, self-esteem, widowhood, and the loneliness generated by the absence of a partner; these are factors that define the well-being and health of these women.