Report: Nursing homes help elderly residents contact prostitutes

Copenhagen - Many Danish nursing homes do not shy away from helping residents contact prostitutes, the Politiken newspaper reported Friday. The newspaper quoted a recent survey conducted by the Danish Nurses Organization that suggested the practice was not uncommon.

"In general our approach is to help the elderly with that kind of need," said a nurse at a nursing home in Charlottenlund, near Copenhagen, according to the report.

Decisions about whether or not staff were allowed to assist elderly residents get in touch with sex-workers rested with local municipal authorities, the report said.

An exception was Copenhagen where such assistance is not allowed since 2006 when the city council adopted a programme to combat prostitution.

Sexologist Judith Rosenkrantz, who has earlier been head of a nursing home and now advises health workers, said that the needs of elderly residents have to be taken into account.

The most common category were men, often suffering from dementia.

"If the elderly person is not able to channel his sexuality, he can become aggressive and start attacking staff," Rosenkrantz said.

Rosenkrantz said that the main need was often physical contact, a cuddle or help to masturbate rather than actual sexual intercourse.