Charter of Sexual Rights tackles age discrimination in nursing homes

Thanks to the University of Sheffield’s Sexual Rights Charter, new training is to be introduced in care homes across Sheffield to break down barriers and combat discrimination against older people in relation to sex and relationships.

The UK’s first Charter of Sexual Rights, created by researchers from the university’s Healthy Lifespan Institute in collaboration with Age-friendly Sheffield, was launched in 2022 to break the silence around the sex lives of older adults while improving sexual health and wellbeing.

It is designed to encourage people to talk openly and honestly about sex so that older people can get the support they need and support services can show them how to get that support. Research has shown that older people are more likely to face discrimination when it comes to their sexual health and wellbeing. For example, their problems may not be taken seriously by healthcare professionals or they may not be able to control their sexual expression in care homes due to a lack of privacy and staff attitudes.

The Charter is a set of materials designed to help health and social care professionals, service providers and the wider community develop inclusive practices and policies to ensure that people, regardless of their age, are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Working with Sheffield City Council, the charter is now being used to co-design, develop and deliver training in over 60 care homes across the city region. It is hoped that the training will be rolled out in care homes later this year.

This is just the latest recognition for the increasingly influential charter. Since its launch, it has formed the basis for the shared design of professional training for all nurses wishing to work in primary care across South Yorkshire. Designed in partnership with Primary Care Doncaster, the training has been highly praised by healthcare workers.

Professor Sharron Hinchliff, lead researcher on the project and Professor of Psychology and Health in the University’s School of Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery, said: “We have deliberately designed the Sexual Rights Charter to be broad in scope to stimulate discussion across many different sectors.”

“It is important in adult social care to have an open culture around sexuality and the charter helps to create this. The resources we are developing will be an important step in giving care home staff the guidance and understanding they need to better support residents. We are also exploring ways to expand the literature relating to transgender and diverse sexual identities to make the charter even more inclusive.”

Examples of participants’ anonymous responses to the question whether they felt they had learned something during the training:

– “It increased my awareness of the issues that arose and showed me how to create a safe environment to start a conversation.”

– “I feel like I’m more informed now about what can cause sexual problems. It was good to see the research and what people were saying about healthcare professionals – and it made me realise we should be talking about this.”

– “It has given me confidence in what problems are and why – and how to deal with patients and where to refer them.”

The impact of the Charter extends beyond South Yorkshire and even attracted global attention when it was mentioned in the UN’s landmark Decade of Healthy Ageing report.

Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of Sheffield City Council’s Adult Health and Social Care Committee, said: “Our Quality and Performance team has been working with the University of Sheffield for over a year to support and develop staff in care homes and to better understand the sexual rights of older people.

“Our communities and the people in them are Sheffield’s greatest asset and it is the council’s aim to help more people live long and fulfilling lives. This work will help older people living in care homes across the city and region to live the lives they want and that is great to see.”

The Charter was designed by Professor Hinchliff and developed with a team from the University of Sheffield and Age-friendly Sheffield. It was developed following extensive consultation with the public, professionals and organisations in Sheffield. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Accelerator Award and Age-friendly Sheffield.