Wide angle photo from a healthcare setting. A white haired white woman sits, having a consultation with a young mixed race woman wearing hospital scrubs Tom Line

The ground-breaking international research into the sexual health of over 45s is published this week and local charity METRO Charity is calling it "a mandate for change for professionals and patients."

The over-45s face unique challenges around their sexual health, but are rarely considered in policy decisions that affect them. The SHIFT project (Sexual Health In the over ForTy-fives) has published its final report of a four-year project, setting out how sexual health services and public health information for older people could be reformed.

Looking at health inequalities faced by this age group, which include limited sexual health education, entering new relationships after a period of monogamy, dealing with the menopause, impotency as a result of aging, and healthcare providers lacking knowledge and tools for sexual health in patients aged over 45, the research identified four pillars to improve and transform sexual health outcomes for the over-45s:

  • Knowledge
  • Awareness
  • Access
  • Stigma.

The project then used these pillars to support an open access training programme; a website; and outreach work with diverse populations in the age group.

The SHIFT project has developed resources for the general public and training resources for professionals which are available on their website, including access to free training for those working with over 45s. The website also includes six short narrative films which dramatise some of the research participants’ experiences such as ageism, the menopause in the workplace, HIV stigma and intimacy, loss of sexual confidence, relationship breakdown, and poor knowledge about STIs.

SHIFT website shift-sexual-health.eu

SHIFT short films

SHIFT Project Evaluation Report

   

---- ENDS ----  

  

For further information contact: 

Hannah Eiseman
Communications Manager, METRO Charity  
[email protected]
07512 312930  
020 8305 5000 extension 232  

 

About METRO  

METRO is an equality, diversity and inclusion services charity, working in London, Essex, Kent, Medway, Surrey and West Sussex. METRO works towards creating a world where diversity is celebrated, difference is respected and valued, and where optimum health and wellbeing is achievable for everyone. METRO works across five domains:    

  metrocharity.org.uk

About SHIFT

The SHIFT programme was funded by the Interreg 2 Seas European Territorial Cooperation Programme covering England, France, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders). The Programme is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The project’s scope has involved:

  • 2,690 individuals
  • 219 healthcare and wider workforce professionals
  • third-party analytics data on over 23,000 individuals.

Sexual health consultant Amanda Dawes led the project at METRO, supported by METRO’s Sexual & Reproductive Health team as well as the Communications, Policy, and Research team.

Quotes

"The SHIFT final report summarises the last four years of ambitious and ground-breaking research conducted by METRO and our partner organisations. The findings from the SHIFT project, and the resources created, have grown our knowledge base around sexual health, expanding the work we do at METRO charity to inform improvements in sexual health for all."

– Fuchsia Watson, Head of Sexual & Reproductive Health, METRO Charity

 

"Stories are a fantastic way to engage and educate older audiences in conversations around sexual health and relationships. By developing characters from the testimonies of people with lived experience, and incorporating humour and dramatic tension, the short films offer an entertaining and relatable entry point to the key issues facing these communities."

– Tom Line, Filmmaker, METRO Charity

 

“There is a significant rise in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in middle-age and older adults…on a global scale. Coupled with this, the focus of sexual health policies has typically been centred on adolescents and younger adults, thereby largely neglecting the sexual health and wellbeing of middle-age and older adults.”

– SHIFT Project Evaluation Report, University of Chichester, 2023

 

SHIFT partners

Academic and voluntary sector delivery partners – Europe:

Evaluation partner:

Project Management:

UK research and delivery partners: