Fears of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Older Adults: Healthcare Staff Training and Housing (Research, Video 5:11)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults living in nursing homes, long-term care, assisted living, and even those receiving home care from healthcare workers have increasingly been discriminated against and abused by staff and fellow residents. Damage to their emotional and physical health has been so devastating that some LGBT residents have resorted to suicide.

In a study at Yeshiva University in New York, elderly participants in community and long-term care settings reported the following fears:

1) Fear of being rejected or neglected by healthcare providers, particularly personal care aides

2) Fear of not being accepted or respected by other residents

3) Fear of having to go back into the closet and pretend their sexual orientation is different

Important solutions to this problem include a national drive to train long-term care providers in equitable and compassionate care. University of Iowa findings from a nationally representative mail-in survey of over a thousand nursing home and social service directors revealed that three-fourths of the sample had not received even one hour of homophobia training over the past five years. Directors with the most experience reported having the least training. More development and dissemination of homophobia training is critically needed along with policy changes that positively impact the quality of life of LGBT older adults.

A move for separate, but equal housing is another solution that has been implemented to counteract the inequities many LGBT seniors experience. The nonprofit, 104-unit Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing (GLEH) Triangle Square in Los Angeles, California is the first affordable housing facility for lesbian and gay seniors. “A Place To Live - The GLEH Triangle Square Story,” a film by Carolyn Coal and Cynthia Childs, chronicles the journey of seven seniors attempting to secure a home there before it opened a few years ago.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Homophobia in Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Assisted Living, and Home Care (LGBT Video 4:01 mins.)

Life can be horrendous living in a community where you are excluded and harassed. This is the experience of many elderly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people living in nursing homes, long-term care, assisted living, and even those receiving home care from healthcare workers. Consider how you would feel being dependent daily on bigoted caregivers who resent your presence. Imagine being isolated socially by fellow residents regularly or only being included because you hide a major part of your identity. Either way, damage to your emotional and physical health can be devastating.

The “Michigan Daily” reports that LGBT elderly increasingly have been “disrespected, shunned, or mistreated in ways that range from hurtful to deadly, even leading some to commit suicide.” Important solutions to this problem include a national drive to train long-term care providers in equitable and compassionate care, and a move for separate, but equal care.

Implementation of culture change in senior institutions requires sensitivity and commitment to the creation of person-centered environments that welcome LGBT residents. As this award-winning LGBT documentary titled  “Gen Silent” explains so well, no one should have to live in fear in order to survive. What kind of quality of life is that?

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Culture Change in Nursing Homes: Sexual Orientation (LGBT)

A supporter of culture change in nursing homes, Barry Berman, the executive director of the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home Foundation, says his organization sees a need for skilled-nursing services and care targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) market. The building of what will probably be the first skilled-nursing home LGBT facility in America will address that concern.

Due to misunderstandings or intolerance by others, elders of the LGBT community are sometimes made to feel uncomfortable about their sexual orientations and lifestyles. In some nursing home environments, they may be criticized or ostracized for doing what heterosexuals consider normal for themselves during everyday living. This includes such practices as spending time with their partners, reading LGBT materials, and freely sharing personal opinions.

The Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home Foundation will begin construction next year on a $26 million nursing home complex, which will have specialized units for the elderly with specific diseases and needs. Targeted health areas include Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), blindness, and multiple sclerosis. One ten-bedroom unit will be used by elderly LGBT residents. The LGBT unit, which should open in 2009, will be called the Elsie Frank House, named after a famous openly gay political leader and the late mother of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton). You can read this “Boston Herald” news article for more information about this specialized implementation of culture change in nursing homes.

Frances Shani Parker, Author
"Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes”
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog