Australia has just begun looking in to the needs of older LGBTI people but in America they’ve been working on the issue for years.
Aged care services in Australia are about to receive a shake-up this month as the national Productivity Commission hands down its final report into the caring of older people. In the draft report, the Commission’s recommendations were aimed at bolstering services in the face of a significantly growing older community. One recommendation that will affect LGBTI people is the Commission’s call for aged care services to ‘respect’ and ‘respond’ to the cultural differences of older people from diverse sexuality and gender (DSG) backgrounds.
Beyond respect, the report does not offer much else for DSG people. Yet we know from last month’s column by Jude Comfort from GRAI that some older people are falling between the cracks into social isolation. While community groups like GRAI and Prime Timers WA do a great deal in the way of advocacy and support, these are issues that cannot be tackled alone. In the US, an organisation called the Services and Advocacy for LGBTI Elders (SAGE) has pioneered some of the country’s first-ever LGBTI older adult services like a drop-in centre and a visiting service for homebound residents.
SAGE communications associate Sunny Bjerk found the time during Pride Week in New York City to speak to OUTinPerth and told us social isolation for older LGBTI people was a ‘major issue’ in the US.
‘Despite creating families of choice and other support networks, many LGBTI older people still experience high rates of social isolation,’ Bjerk said.
‘Compared to their heterosexual peers, they are twice as likely to be single and to live alone, and three to four times as likely to be childless.
‘They are also less likely to feel welcome in the places where many older people socialise, such as senior centres, volunteer centres and places of worship.’
Research and SAGE’s experience showed harmful effects of social isolation include depression, delayed care-seeking, poor nutrition and premature morality.
Here in WA, a recent report by GRAI found 86 per cent of aged care services were unaware of any LGBTI residents in their facility. While 66 per cent of survey respondents felt they provided a LGBTI-friendly environment, only 30 per cent of facility respondents recognised that LGBTI older people had specific needs.
And if there was ever a time for reform, it is now.
According to Bjerk, estimates from the US show that with the ageing of the Baby Boomer generation, LGBTI older adults would make up a vast proportion of the broader senior population. Estimates suggested that by 2030, LGBTI seniors will reach nearly four million. In Australia, estimates of this group are relatively unknown due to minimal research and data available. But there have been moves to draw attention to the issue.
In her article The Federal Zimmer Frame, former National LGBTI Health Alliance spokesperson Gabi Rosenstreich called for LGBTI needs to be addressed in aged care services, standards and accreditation nationwide. She said more research was needed on the wellbeing of seniors from diverse sexuality and gender including their social and economic needs.
‘We need dedicated aged care packages and LGBTI community-based information, assessment and case coordination services,’ she said.
‘These needs are unlikely to be met until LGBTI seniors are explicitly recognised as a priority population in the ageing policies that guide decision making.
‘And that requires political will.’
Benn Dorrington
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