Sex advice for the over 40s

Chief Executive Jackie Edmond says the new resource, produced with funding from the Ministry of Health, is specifically targeted at heterosexual women aged over 40, who are getting back into dating and relationships.

"Some people may never have imagined the possibility of their long-term relationship ending, whether through break-up or death. There may be considerable adjustment to accepting new possibilities," she says.

This is compounded by changes in society – more ways of meeting someone, increased risk of Sexually Transmissible Infections…We know too, that many people in the over 40 age group aren't good at taking care of themselves – they've simply not had the safer sex messages that young people have been getting.

Our clinicians often report women seeking contraception at the start of a new relationship who hadn't even considered the need to protect themselves against STIs. Often they'll tell our clinicians that "he looks okay." Our response is that you can't tell by looking if someone has an STI. Unless both partners have had "clean" STI test results and the relationship is sexually exclusive then condoms and lube are the only way to be safe. Read on >>