Pride Includes Ensuring LGBT Community Has Access to Care Services

Aging and illness are pretty much universal experiences. At some point, everyone will age, and many will deal with some sort of illness regardless of male, female or sexual orientation.

Of the 39 million Americans older than 65, 6% of them identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), and this is expected to increase as the older adult population more than triples to an estimated 19% in 2030, according to the American Psychological Association.

This is a large contingent of people who need culturally competent care, especially here in New Jersey, which is a neighbor to where the pride battle for equal rights took off to spur a global movement in the late 1960s.

The LGBT community faces many care challenges due to past events, fears and unique stressors associated with being in this social group. They also may face dual discrimination because of their age and/or their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The gay rights movement has an almost 100-year-old history in America. Henry Gerber, a World War I Army veteran and immigrant from Bavaria, founded the Chicago-based Society for Human Rights in 1924, the first documented gay rights organization in the United States. After being briefly committed to a mental institution in 1917 for homosexuality, he was forced into military service during the first World War. Gerber was stationed in Germany, which had a thriving community-oriented gay subculture. Although he was arrested the following year, his organization published this country’s first gay-interest newsletter Friendship and Freedom in the short time it was in existence.

In 1969, the movement had its most visible moment to date on 4 a.m. on June 28, with the start of the Stonewall Inn riots in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Since then, the LGBT community has been vocal in demanding equal rights. Those rights include receiving gender-affirming, appropriate health care and caregivers equal to the care of all others.

Health Care Disparities

Studies suggest higher levels of chronic and other health problems among LGBT adults, including asthma, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis and certain illnesses such as cancer, according to a report by SAGE, a leading national organization that addresses and advocates for issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning and other self-identifying members of the community (LGBTQ+) aging.

LGBT elders, thus, have aged into their later years with these additional health concerns. Many are afraid of discrimination by health care providers and delay care and/or preventative screenings and tests.

Nearly one in four LGBT+ people report being in fair or poor health, according to the LGBT+ People’s Health and Experiences Accessing Care report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Seventy seven percent of 45–64-year-old participants in the study reported an ongoing health condition that required regular monitoring, medical care or medication.

As those people age, they will probably need care in some form to manage these conditions.

Although 80% of long-term care in the U.S. is provided by family members, LGBT elders are twice as likely to be single and three to four times more likely to be without children than their heterosexual counterparts, according to the Facts on LGBT Aging Report compiled by SAGE and the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.

For example, 8.3% of LGBT elders reported being neglected or abused by a caretaker due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to SAGE.

Twenty-one percent of older LGBT people have provided care to friends, compared to only 6% of non-LGBT older adults. LGBT people become caregivers at a higher rate than non-LGBT people and make up 9% of the caregivers in the United States.

Finances are also an issue. LGBT+ people are also more likely to be low-income, with 34% having incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) compared to 25% of non-LGBT+ people, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Importance of Culturally Competent Care

Appropriate training is key to ensuring the LGBT community receives the care they deserve. Eighty-eight percent of older people who identify as LGBT say they would feel more comfortable with long-term care services if they knew staff had been specifically trained about the needs of LGBT patients, according to SAGE. More than two-thirds say this would make them feel much more comfortable.

To address the needs of the local LGBTQ community Assisting Hands Home Care Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer Counties is the first home care in New Jersey to receive SAGE’s Platinum Certification for LBGTQ+ Cultural Competency Training. The certification indicates we have specifically trained team to work with LGBTQ+ populations, are welcoming to LGBTQ+ people and their allies, and remain dedicated to person-directed service provision.