Hospice Foundation of America has addressed this important topic through two webinars. The first, Aging and End-of-Life Challenges in the LGBT Community, is a free 30-minute program developed with the help of a grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. For those who work for an organization that serves older adults or individuals with life-limiting illnesses this program will prepare you to better serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in your community.
We know now that older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are more likely to be isolated socially than their heterosexual peers. They tend to be childless and may be estranged from family members, and often live with the enduring stigma that came with being anything but heterosexual in generations past.
Connectedness and a sense of community are vital human needs that, if anything, become more important as we get older. But by virtue of their frequent social isolation, many older gay people may be more likely in their later years to have little access to the very social networks that are important factors in successful aging. So, in a way, being old and gay can concentrate the biggest fears that many of us have about aging: that no one will care for us, and that we will die alone.
What can health care providers do to help? The task is complicated by the fact that these men and women may be all but invisible to us. Even people who were able to come out may find themselves retreating into the closet when they are forced to move into assisted living facilities or nursing homes. Health care providers must remember that just because a patient is old, he or she is not necessarily heterosexual.
The second archived webinar, Supporting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community through Illness, Death and Grief, offers one hour of continuing education for a variety of professionals and is available until April 19, 2012. The program features Kimberly Acquaviva, PhD, MSW, of George Washington University, who discusses the challenges faced by this community and how organizations can better serve older LGBT adults and their loved ones. Kenneth Doka, PhD, MDiv, Senior Consultant at HFA, discusses the psychosocial issues faced by this community.
"Aging and death don't discriminate. Whether someone is heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, everyone grows older," states Dr. Doka. "Yet during their lifetime, LGBT older adults have faced legal and societal barriers, and many older LGBT individuals may feel reluctant to seek and accept health care and social services."
