Home » News & Events » Older LGBTQ Adults Face Unique Challenges in Giving and Receiving Care
by Laura Williamson, American Heart Association News
Unlike their cisgender and heterosexual peers, LGBTQ people are more likely to end up as caregivers for friends, partners, or family members. An estimated 1 in 5 LGBT people are caregivers, compared to 1 in 6 people in the general population, according to a 2015 caregiving report from National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP Public Policy Institute.
LGBTQ people are less likely to have children to help care for them and are more likely to live alone, said David Vincent, chief program officer for SAGE, a New York City-based national advocacy and service organization for older LGBTQ adults. They also are more likely to face discrimination and feel isolated. “Their support networks are incredibly thin.”
It’s not uncommon for LGBTQ people to be reluctant to seek help from people unknown to them, said Jason Flatt, an assistant professor in the department of social and behavioral health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health. In addition to the general discomfort of having a stranger perform intimate tasks, such as toileting, he said many LGBTQ people are concerned about receiving subpar care from people who might discriminate against them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Zander Keig, a 56-year-old transsexual man in Orlando, Florida, said same-sex couples often feel so apprehensive about being mistreated that they “de-gay the apartment when home health comes in, because they don’t want to face any prejudice or mistreatment. It’s always a concern. What are they going to notice?”
Keig and his wife provided care for his father when he developed dementia. That’s when Keig realized how little support there was for LGBTQ caregivers, especially men. He eventually connected with someone online who shared his experience, but that person lived in another state. His struggles led him to co-found the LGBTQ Caregiver Center, an online resource directory and social support hub to address the unique needs of LGBTQ caregivers.
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