Sexualities and Dementia: Education resource for health professionals

The aims of this education resource are to:
• Increase understanding of the concepts of intimacy,
sexuality, sexual behaviours and expression of
various types of sexuality (including the benefits of
and barriers to expression of sexuality)
• Identify dementia-related sexual expression
• Discuss the roles of health professionals and
approaches to the expression of sexuality by PWD
• Consider the cognitive capacity of PWD to have
intimate and sexual relationships
• Provide a framework for developing policies /
guidelines on sexualities for PWD
• Identify strategies to transfer knowledge of
sexualities and dementia into care practices

Outcomes
By the end of this education resource, participants
will have an awareness and understanding of the
following:
• The intimate and sexual needs of PWD
• The importance of expression of sexuality for PWD
• The role of health care professionals in responding
to the expression of sexuality by PWD
• A model to assess cognitive competency of PWD to
have intimate and sexual relationships
• A framework to better support the expression of
sexuality by PWD
• Knowledge translation of sexualities and dementia
into care practices
These materials are written for students in
undergraduate health professional programs and
health professionals. These materials may also be
of use for care workers and families of people with
dementia.

Learning Modules
This education resource is built around four learning
modules:
A. Intimacy, sexuality and sexual behaviour
B. Dementia and the expression of sexuality
C. Ethical considerations: policy guidelines
development for sexualities and dementia in care
settings
D. Developing sexualities and dementia policy
guidelines for care practice