Jiggle, Wiggle: why Tinder-loving older people need condoms – and fast

A campaign from Derbyshire NHS trust is trying to persuade over-35s to take precautions during and after casual sex
  
  

The campaign will distribute free condoms in GPs’ surgeries and food banks.
The campaign will distribute free condoms in GPs’ surgeries and food banks. Photograph: incamerastock / Alamy/Alamy

Name: Jiggle, Wiggle.

Location: Derbyshire.

Appearance: Educational, yet fun.

Age: Over 35. Sometimes even over 65.

Wait, is this not a toddlers’ dance club? No. It’s a sexual health campaign.

Sheesh. All right, different vibe. Why is it called Jiggle, Wiggle then? Don’t ask.

Why not? Because I don’t know the answer. All I know is that Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS foundation trust is having a three-month push to persuade older people to use condoms and get tested after they have casual sex.

I see why they needed a catchier name. So, you mean to tell me that people older than 35 still have sex? Apparently, they do in Derbyshire.

Crikey. With each other? With anyone they can get, I expect. Jiggle, Wiggle is also targeting those in their 40s, 50s and 60s, who now find casual sex much easier to come by, thanks to dating apps such as Tinder.

I thought those apps were meant to help you find someone special so you could make a life together? I guess that could also happen. “Although most sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diagnosed in people aged 15 to 24, STIs are not just prevalent in young people,” says Rebecca Spencer, the project’s general manager. “We want to try and reduce the number of infections across all age groups.”

That sounds like a good thing. Is this a big problem then? Well, there’s room for improvement. Overall, STI rates in England fell in the three years to 2017, when there was a total of 422,147 new cases. But the rates are steady or even slightly rising among older people, especially the over-45s and over-65s, who might be more tempted to take risks.

Because, deep down, they are all still ravers, punks and hippies? That may be a factor. Or they may have stopped taking the risk seriously. Older women can’t get pregnant, and some of the men have had vasectomies, so it’s possible they feel they don’t need to bother with condoms any more.

Dear oh dear. Besides launching a campaign on social media, Derbyshire NHS trust will distribute free condoms in GPs’ surgeries and food banks.

They should leave buckets full of them at garden centres. That’s not a bad idea.

Do say: “Mum, Dad, I think you’re at an age now when we ought to talk about sexual health. Here, I’ve got you a leaflet.”

Don’t say: “Morning, doctor. Well, I was bending over to put a condom on and my back just went.”

 

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