Staff attitudes and reactions towards residents’ masturbation in Spanish long‐term care facilities

Aims and objectives To explore staff attitudes and reactions towards masturbation in long‐term care facilities. Background Staff attitudes and reactions towards the expression of sexuality in long‐term care facilities may be influenced by the nature of the sexual behaviour being expressed. Staff attitudes towards masturbation, a common sexual behaviour in such settings, have gone largely unexplored so far. Design An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative research design. Methods Fifty‐three staff members working in five different long‐term care facilities participated in the study. They were asked about what they would think, how they would react, and what possible reactions they might expect from workmates if they entered a room and found a resident masturbating. Results The majority of participants considered that masturbation was acceptable and avoiding interference was by far the most common reaction, although other reactions also arose. When asked about reactions attributed to workmates, mentions to reprimanding the resident and gossiping/joking about the issue were more frequent than acceptance. Conclusions The discrepancy between professionals’ own reported attitudes and those attributed to workmates suggests the existence of widespread negative reactions towards sexual activity in later life. Relevance to clinical practice In the light of these results, we underline the necessity of developing explicit policies regarding sexual issues. Formal training offered to staff would also help to recognise and preserve resident's sexual rights and needs.