SHIFT

Sexual health in the Over Forty-Fives
Priority Axis
Technological and Social InnovationSpecific objective
Social Innovation
Lead partner
The Health and Europe CentreContact
Start Date
01/03/2019End Date
30/09/2022Project budget
4 217 159 €ERDF amount
2 530 295 €ERDF rate
60%About
Common challenge
Studies in/beyond Europe (eg WHO’s Sexual Health Throughout Life) highlight the need for older people to have better access to sexual health support/care. These identify that older age groups are rarely a focus in European & domestic policies across the 2Seas area. The correlation is clear between this gap in services & the rise in Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) rates. The over-45s at risk are generally those entering new sexual relationships after a period of monogamy, often post-menopause (removing the issue of pregnancy, without thought to STIs). Our engagement with relevant services suggests lack of knowledge/tools for health services approaching the issue and offering information/treatment. Within this target group, partner research has shown that groups with one or more socio-economic disadvantages (homeless people/sex workers/non-native language speakers/migrants) are at even greater risk of being unaware of their sexual health and unable to access the appropriate services