For Immediate Release
November 14, 2008
North York, ON
“Love and Intimacy Over 60” will be discussed at 1 p.m. November 24, when the Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living welcomes back guest speaker, Michele Cauch of SageHealth Network. Cauch will present the 2-hour workshop with Jane P. Fowler, founder and director of HIV Wisdom for Older Women, a national program in the U.S. Sponsored by Amica at Thornhill, their talks will focus on seniors’ sexual health promotion and HIV awareness.
The 65-and-over population, according to Statistics Canada, comprised a record 13.7% of Canada’s total population in 2006. It is estimated that by 2050 those over 65 will represent 26.3% of the total population. Although this burgeoning group continues to increase, it has never been the target of healthy sexual messaging. All research indicates that persons over 65 are sexually active, yet this sector of the population continues to be ignored by traditional sexual health education campaigns.
“The fact remains that seniors are having sex, and they’re at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections,” Cauch said. “It’s essential to raise awareness of sexual health dangers that may affect seniors, give them information so they can protect themselves and help them make better informed decisions about their health.”
The mandate of SageHealth Network is to promote seniors’ sexual health, dispel negative stereotypes about senior sexuality and promote positive aging. SageHealth offers workshops on sexual health promotion for older adults, and training for geriatric care providers and medical professionals. HIV Wisdom for Older Women, based in the Kansas City area, is dedicated to the prevention of HIV infection in older women and to support for elder females aging with the virus. (Programs also target older men.)
Fowler, a retired journalist, has given more than a thousand presentations at venues across the U.S. and in Canada since becoming an activist and public speaker in 1995. Her story has been told, and her work described, by the national media, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, People magazine, CNN and National Public Radio.
The goals of the upcoming workshop are to normalize sexuality as a healthy activity, introduce seniors to sexual health risks, teach ways of communicating about safe sex and help participants advocate for their own sexuality.
The workshop is free and open to men and women who want to learn new information and share their thoughts and concerns on elder sexuality. Older adults, as well as caregivers to seniors, are encouraged to attend.
The Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living is located at 1003 Steeles Avenue West (SW corner of Steeles and Bathurst). Refreshments provided. For more information, contact Amanda Vasquez at the Betel Centre T: 416- 225-2112 x126.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
81-Year-Old Finds Love Online
By Lydia Chen, Shanghai Daily.com
October 27, 200, China
An 81-year-old man in Beijing has proved that a quick wedding and Internet love are not reserved for young people as he married a woman he found online within three days of their first date.
Wu Jieqin, a professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, held a wedding banquet yesterday with Jiang Xiaohui, 58, a woman he found on a matchmaking Website in September 2008, Beijing Morning Post reported today.
“I saw her picture online and I thought she was just the one I was looking for,” Wu told the newspaper.
Wu divorced when he was 63. He put a lonely heart notice on the matchmaking Website last year with the help of a student.
The sculpture expert bought a computer to better communicate with his daughter in the United States and had been using the Internet since 1998 when he returned to China from teaching overseas.
Still, he never expected he would find love online.
After chatting online for 10 days, Wu went to Chengdu City in Sichuan Province to meet Jiang, the report said.
“I knew I found my true love at the first sight of her,” Wu told the newspaper.
The couple decided to knot the tie after three days after meeting.
“I didn’t care what others thought,” Wu was quoted as saying. “There are no rules against old people seeking love online and the Internet not only belongs to the young people.”
But to reach the altar, Wu had to overcome the opposition of Jiang's parents, aged 85 and 86, who feared he was too old.
But he won them over.
"His voice is very youthful. Not like an 80-year-old," Jiang, a retired railway worker and a Sichuan native, told the paper. "He's very romantic."
Wu said he plans to move to Sichuan to be with his new bride.
He likened their love to two well-meshed gears.
"As long they are up to scratch, they can keep turning forever, and you don't have to care whether they're old or new," he told Beijing Morning Post.
In China, couples traditionally get married legally first and then hold a wedding banquet at a later date.
Original link: http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2008/love.htm
October 27, 200, China
An 81-year-old man in Beijing has proved that a quick wedding and Internet love are not reserved for young people as he married a woman he found online within three days of their first date.
Wu Jieqin, a professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, held a wedding banquet yesterday with Jiang Xiaohui, 58, a woman he found on a matchmaking Website in September 2008, Beijing Morning Post reported today.
“I saw her picture online and I thought she was just the one I was looking for,” Wu told the newspaper.
Wu divorced when he was 63. He put a lonely heart notice on the matchmaking Website last year with the help of a student.
The sculpture expert bought a computer to better communicate with his daughter in the United States and had been using the Internet since 1998 when he returned to China from teaching overseas.
Still, he never expected he would find love online.
After chatting online for 10 days, Wu went to Chengdu City in Sichuan Province to meet Jiang, the report said.
“I knew I found my true love at the first sight of her,” Wu told the newspaper.
The couple decided to knot the tie after three days after meeting.
“I didn’t care what others thought,” Wu was quoted as saying. “There are no rules against old people seeking love online and the Internet not only belongs to the young people.”
But to reach the altar, Wu had to overcome the opposition of Jiang's parents, aged 85 and 86, who feared he was too old.
But he won them over.
"His voice is very youthful. Not like an 80-year-old," Jiang, a retired railway worker and a Sichuan native, told the paper. "He's very romantic."
Wu said he plans to move to Sichuan to be with his new bride.
He likened their love to two well-meshed gears.
"As long they are up to scratch, they can keep turning forever, and you don't have to care whether they're old or new," he told Beijing Morning Post.
In China, couples traditionally get married legally first and then hold a wedding banquet at a later date.
Original link: http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2008/love.htm
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