USA — While the nation’s educators and moralists wrangle over how much information teachers should be allowed to provide school aged minors about their bodies and sexuality, many of the country’s mature citizens are finding out that they don’t know as much about sex as they thought.According to The Desert Sun, the fastest growing segment of the singles market is adults aged 50 and older, a fact rocking the worlds of young and old alike.

In addition to children and grandchildren adjusting to the idea that their elders are as keen to find love, romance, and something even saucier, elders themselves are realizing that all three have become a lot more complex than they used to be — especially if they’re living an a care facility. So real is the insistence upon remaining physically and emotionally involved with others by the elderly that nursing homes and assisted living centers are increasingly reserving rooms for clients seeking special, partnered alone time.

Although many of those currently seeking Viagra and vaginal moisturizing lotions once insisted that no one over the age of 30 could be trusted, they’re singing a different tune now. In fact, the New York Times recently reported that women traditionally considered to be well past their pornographic prime are part of one of the most vigorously expanding genres in the adult entertainment industry, the “mature” segment.

The goodness for baby boomers and beyond is that they’re enjoying better health, vitality, and physical attractiveness than their predecessors, which is a good thing given how many of them enjoyed a more sexually exploratory and open youth, as well. An AARP survey of 3,000 people aged 45 and older in 2003 uncovered the fact that 70-percent of respondents with regular sexual partners (two-thirds of which included spouses or partners) and a third of all participants have sex at least once or twice a month.

Unfortunately, many of these same people don’t realize that their age is no protection against sexually transmitted diseases, even those whose current sexual partners are not people they have been involved with for much of their life. In fact, dating multiple partners is not uncommon in some communities, especially those where the balance between men and women is particularly unequal.

Based on the results of several studies, this means that many women aged 50 and older have spotty understandings about how HIV and other STDs are transmitted, with two-thirds thinking that HIV can be exchanged via kissing. Given that pregnancy is no longer a concern for most older women, condoms have fallen off of most of their radar screens, something reflected by the fact that fewer than 20-percent realize that condoms protect against transmission of STDs, including HIV.

The tragic results of this ignorance can be seen when examining the number of new HIV cases. The Centers for Disease Control reports that an estimated 23-percent of all new cases treated between 2000 and 2003 were among people aged 45 years and older. Likewise, gonorrhea among the same age group rose 27-percent between 1995 and 1999 — while the general population only saw an increase of five-percent.

Part of the difficulty in addressing sex education needs among older Americans is due to the culture of the elderly themselves. Talking about sex for many adults is difficult, but suddenly beginning to talk about sex at the age of 70 presents a particular challenge, especially when it comes to delicate topics such as disease. Making things more complex is the fact that the health system is more focused on risky sexual behavior among teens and young adults, instead of the entire age range for sexually active persons.

Professionals such as Nancy Orel, a gerontologist at Bowling Green State University believe that while practical matters including brochures that are age-appropriate — and font size appropriate — for older adults must be addressed, health care providers must take the initiative. “I hear from older adults all the time that they have lots of questions for their doctors about sex,” Orel observes. “But they’re afraid to broach the subject with them.”

Orel admits that doctors struggle to find a way to make “how’s your sex life” a comfortable part of bedside patter, “But my sense is, primary care physicians are getting a little better about bringing it up respectfully and letting the older patient run with it.”