Supporting and Meeting the care needs of older LGBT people | Pride Month 2021


Meeting the needs of elderly LGBT - Live in home care

While there has been an improvement in meeting the needs of LGBT individuals in many aspects, we still lack appropriate LGBT support in social care services.

There is also an assumption that all older people are grandparents and have family to fall back on, when their health declines and they need support. However, 90% of LGBT people are ageing without children and many have little contact with their biological families. This increases the need for more formal support and care services in later life.

Although the number of LGBTQ seniors will double in ten years, there are few if any existing care schemes with a focus on older LGBT residents. The same is true of care homes. That’s why we believe that live-in care is a great option for LGBT people who want care that meets their needs.

“I find conversations with older LGBT people about the course of their lives is a fantastically personal way of understanding LGBT history and recently I got to spend time talking to Maggie Jones, a lesbian in her 60s. I was struck by her reflections on the relationship many older people who are LGBT have with health and care services. She described “fear and trepidation”, often stemming from negative encounters with care professionals.”
said Philip Satherley , Policy Manager at Independent Age .

It is not enough for health and social care services to avoid discrimination, LGB people need services to take action to advance equality of opportunity in order to feel safe and confident when receiving care services.

Maggie explained that many older gay people are not comfortable being open about their sexual orientation to health and care staff and “will retreat back into the closet and not divulge that important part of themselves”.

We need more LGBT friendly social care services that understand what a gender neutral is. This is essentially about coming back to our core social care roots; promoting person centred care, dignity and inclusion.

Our fantastic team at Ashridge Home Care are supporting Pride month 2021! We are proud to support the LGBT community. Here to help .. Get in touch for a confidential chat about your care needs and options.