New relationships and intimacy in long-term care: The views of relatives of residents with dementia and care home staff

BackgroundThere is limited research on what family members and frontline care home staff consider to be the best responses to the sexual expression of a person with dementia, whilst at the same time respecting relatives’ feelings, managing their possible distress and conflict.MethodsThis exploratory study investigated the views of relatives and care workers of new relationships or sexual intimacy between care home residents with dementia, whilst still married to another person. It reports the themes that emerged in qualitative interviews with eight relatives of people with dementia and with 12 frontline care home staff working in two English care homes. Interviews took place in 2015 using a hypothetical vignette that unfolded in four stages. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe views of care home staff and relatives had similarities in general terms regarding the problems arising around expressions of sexuality in care homes: indicting that a light-hearted or non-physical connection ...