s important because it addresses a group of women in whom sexual counseling on protective practices for prevention of HIV and STDs is not usually readily available (25). Most such counseling is directed at young women and adolescents, and although literature is freely available to everyone, there is no specific attempt to reach this particular group of women who have been out of the sexual arena for many years, and possibly since before HIV became a problem. Also, many older women come from an era when such things were not openly discussed and so may not feel comfortable bringing the matter up, and may need help with this problem.
Participants were asked to describe their first sexual experience following their long-term monogamous relationship, and exploratory questions were used to keep the interview flowing (28). Two subjects needed no prompting, whereas the other five needed some structure in the beginning, but after 15 minutes, talked more freely. It would probably have been better to conduct repeat interviews for verification of data, and to gain any additional insights from the subjects once their memories had been stimulated and they had time to reflect on the subject matter. Dividing the interview into two or more sessions may have elicited more useful data. It would also have been much more meaningful to have had similar interviews with the sexual partner, not only to look at the issue from the male perspective, but to possibly cast another light on the subjectÆs recollections and to verify them.
The method of recruiting subjects for the study was by distributing flyers in several gynecologistsÆ offices, health clubs, employee lounges, and other areas (27). This, in a way, preselects for a certain type of subject because there are only certain types of women who would even pick up such flyers, never mind respond to them. The sample is therefore necessarily skewed toward those who enjoy talking about their s...