Pride in Care
can meet in person, and for people living in other parts of the UK, they can be matched with a volunteer who will give them a friendly call once a week for 30 minutes or so. Now that we have expanded nationally and offer services for LGBTQ+ people over 50 all over the UK, we are partnering with other LGBTQ+ organisations to deliver our services. We will soon launch a Telefriending service for people in the West Yorkshire area, in partnership with Friends of Dorothy (Out Together).
Opening Doors also carries out research to better understand the issues LGBTQ+ people face and to influence policy in health and social care. Recently we published Building safe choices - the impact of Covid-19 on older LGBT+ people, a study into the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people over 50, and Joint strategic needs assessments: assessing provisions for the older LGBTQ+ population of London, intended to to highlight areas where information on the LGBTQ+ population is currently lacking.
How can we support LGBTQ+ people over 50 to live fulfilled lives? One way is by finding safe care for them in their golden years. This vulnerable group is a growing demographic, and with younger generations more likely to identify as LGBTQ+, it is only going to become a larger portion of the population. Social isolation already affects millions of older people in the UK, and this issue has increased during the outbreak of Covid-19. With older LGBTQ+ people having experienced a lifetime of societal and
With older LGBTQ+ people having experienced a lifetime of societal and institutional discrimination, the increased levels of isolation they face are compounded by a fear of accessing mainstream support services which may offer inappropriate support that fails to take account of their unique life experiences, relationships, and identity
institutional discrimination, the increased levels of isolation they face are compounded by a fear of accessing mainstream support services which may offer inappropriate support which fails to take account of their unique life experiences, relationships, and identity.
Social isolation is further exacerbated by the fact that many older LGBTQ+ people were rejected by their birth families and now do not have intergenerational support networks. Unlike those with these networks, older LGBTQ+ people sometimes find themselves unable to rely on children or other younger relatives to provide informal care, to help them navigate the social care system, or to make social connections. This means they are often entering care alone, leading many to go back ‘into the closet’. Many of our members fear suffering homophobia from staff or other residents, and our trans members worry they could have their identities disrespected or have their medications stopped. At Opening Doors, we think this is unacceptable, and that the generations who fought for the freedoms of a whole community deserve better.
Ageing and anxiety To better understand how LGBTQ+ people experience getting older differently than their heterosexual peers, Stonewall commissioned YouGov to survey sample of 1,050 heterosexual and 1,036 lesbian, gay and bisexual people over the age of 55 across the UK. According to the research: ‘With diminished support networks in comparison to their heterosexual peers, more lesbian, gay, and bisexual people expect they will need to rely on formal support services as they get older. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are nearly twice as likely as their heterosexual peers to expect to rely on a range of external services, including GPs, health, and social care services and paid help. However, at the same time lesbian, gay, and bisexual people feel that providers of services won’t be able to understand and meet their needs. Three in five are not confident that social care and support services, like paid carers, or housing services would be able to understand and meet their needs.
‘As a result, nearly half would be uncomfortable being out to care home staff, a third would be uncomfortable being out to a housing provider, hospital staff or a paid carer, and approximately one in five wouldn’t feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation to their GP.’ This shows that there is a lack of specific support for these communities in the public and private care and housing sectors. Last Pride, we spoke with Angela Trail, one of our ambassadors, concerning her fears about growing older as an LGBTQ+ person. The conversation gives us an interesting insight as to how many older LGBTQ+ people do not trust support services to understand their specific needs. “I’m getting older, and being
transgender, it may be very difficult for me to feel comfortable accessing care services and, if they are imposed on me, how do I know they are going to be sympathetic in my particular needs about being older as a transgender woman?”
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com June 2022
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