Abstract

The gradual decline of the sexual performance of the elderly does not imply that their erotic needs extinguish completely. Only the possibilities and the means to obtain satisfaction change. The article presents the erotic aspects of the functioning of elderly people. It focuses primarily on the breakdown and on the reconstruction of senior marriages, the responses to these situations by close relatives, on informal relationships, on the reasons of reduced sexual activity of the elderly or even their sexual abstinence and on the functions of sex at old age. An important issue is the need to disseminate the knowledge on sexuality of the elderly and to promote more accepting attitudes towards their sexuality.