Concurrent Sessions 9 - (NBCC CE Credit: #1 hr and Conference Attendance Credit: #1 hr)

325-01: Love in Later Life: Examining Relational and Emotional Fidelity to a Partner With Dementia
Erin Yelland, M. Hunter Stanfield

325-02: Sexual Activity and Relationship Satisfaction Among Spousal and Non-Spousal Caregivers
Christine M. Proulx,  Hanamori Skoblow,  Amy J. Rauer

325-03: Limiting or Liberating? Accounts of Sex and Love Among Gray Divorcees in the United States
Jacquelyn J. Benson,  Caroline Sanner,  Olivia Landon,  Allison Donehower

325-04: Let's (Not) Talk About Sex: Physical Intimacy in Older Couples
Amy J. Rauer,  Siera Schwanz, Christine M. Proulx,  Allen Sabey

Discussant/Chair: Jeremy B. Yorgason

Summary
Sexual intimacy is an important aspect of couple relationships for both men and women in later life. Although sexual functioning and frequency have been the focus of research with older adults, fewer studies have explored relationship aspects of sexual intimacy in later life. For example, many older adults become caregivers for a spouse or aging parent. Caregiving often brings a certain level of stress and can lead to shifts in relationships. This is particularly the case when a spouse develops dementia. Also, older adults often experience health challenges that can affect sexual intimacy, yet little is known about how couples manage. Last, not all older adults have a partner with whom to share sexual intimacy, such as with those that experience divorce in later life. In this symposium four papers have been brought together that address important later life contexts that can influence the sexual experiences of older adults.

Objectives
-- To analyze common experiences in later life that can impact the expression of sexual intimacy
-- To demonstrate that people's experiences of sexual intimacy vary in later life
-- To demonstrate the relative importance of sexual intimacy for later life couples

Subject Codes: aging, sexuality, interpersonal relationships
Population Codes: cognitive (dis)ability, older adults, U.S.
Method and Approach Codes: dyadic analysis, qualitative methodology, actor-partner interdependence model (APIM)