A Call for an Integrated Biopsychosocial Model to Address Fundamental Disconnects in an Emergent Field: An Introduction to the Special Issue on "Sexuality and Aging"

This special issue of Ageing International is designed to highlight the clinicians, researchers, and public policy makers who focus upon the intersection of sexuality and aging. A theoretical, biopsychosocial model is introduced in response to a variety of apparent paradoxes in the field (e. g., although nearly 1 in 5 new AIDS cases are among adults over the age of 65, no federally funded programs exist for HIV prevention among this age group, and although virtually all findings in the literature are based upon men and women from North American and Western European nations, China boasts the largest population of older adults worldwide). Consistent with this integrated approach, contributors to the special issue provide emergent information in relation to HIV and AIDS among older men and women, cross-cultural perspectives on sexuality and aging within Chinese and Ugandan culture, sexuality within the context of long-term care, and clinical approaches to erectile dysfunction. Directions for future research also are offered.