Seniors talking about sex starts a conversation
Pam Krause calls herself a bit of a nerdy public policy person. Through her work with the Calgary Sexual Health Centre over the past 11 years — along with her volunteer and political efforts — she has made influencing social change in our community a priority.
So, with such a full plate and a pretty single-minded focus, it’s probably no surprise it took her so long to learn a valuable lesson.
“It took me so long to get there, but I think in my 51 years what I’ve learned the most is how important the journey is, and really, sometimes the end result isn’t that important but it’s all that richness you build as you’re getting there,” Krause says.
And she has built a lot of richness into her vibrant life. Krause talks about how fulfilling her work is at the CSHC, where she has been executive director for seven years.
During that time, Krause has developed and implemented programs to educate and support Calgarians in regards to their sexual health and well-being. But what stands out for her, as part of that rich journey she describes, is being able to make a difference in so many lives.
From the young people she works with — “It means so much to me when I can watch them grow and develop and move on” — to the population she guides, educates and helps influence toward healthy choices, “I have found this career so rewarding.”
One segment Krause has focused on is seniors.
They have watched the world evolve around them, including the changing dynamics of relationships, the amount of information that is now available and the increased health risk, which is rising in this demographic because of a very common lack of knowledge of sex and safe choices.
“It’s a huge health concern. We see sexually transmitted infections rising among this population quickly, including HIV,” Krause says.
“We have lived with these generations of not having open conversations. They never got that sex education that we do. They never got that information from parents that many young people do now.”
Krause decided to get that conversation started.
She developed a program
Focus on the people that are with you on the journey
PAM KRAUSE
called Seniors a GOGO. It’s an educational and entertaining program in which seniors share monologues about their own life journeys.
They tell stories of how they first learned about sex, their emotions tied to it, or sometimes the experience of losing a spouse and wondering how to start over.
The monologues are presented to the public in libraries, hospitals and seniors centres and to health-care students and professionals, so they, too, can feel comfortable talking about it.
“It elicits emotion, it elicits people to say, ‘Wow, I never thought of it this way’ and then it starts people actually having conversations,” Krause says.
Chosen by the seniors themselves, Krause says the name of the program speaks for itself. “It illustrates we’re on the go ... and we’re not stopping.”
And neither is Krause, as she mentors and educates older and younger generations, and — armed with a single-minded mission — continues to make a difference.
“Focus on the bright lights, focus on the people that are with you on the journey,” she says.