Gen Silent is an excellent video about older members of the LGBTQ community. Its name comes from concerns of the Stonewall Generation feeling they may need to return to the closet as they age and become more dependent on others and thus more vulnerable.
It includes interviews with a lesbian couple, two gay men who became caregivers for their partners, and a transwoman diagnosed with terminal cancer. All bring up issues of being concerned about obstacles to obtaining appropriate care, and what that care might need to be. As one advocate on the film points out, organizations may think they are very positively interacting with the LGBTQ people they serve, but what about those who are afraid to seek services because they simply don't know where they will be safe to do so, especially after having bad experiences.
The story about the home health aide who pulled out a Bible to pray with a gay client and told that person that "it wasn't too late" absolutely made smoke come out of my ears. Many issues, though, are more subtle, and probably don't even enter the thought processes of most providers. And elder abuse is a very real problem, so to be afraid that it will be exacerbated by homophobia and/or transphobia is entirely, unfortunately, realistic. Not to mention, in the context of either supportive housing or skilled nursing facility, concern about the other residents' attitudes and behavior. I see cliquish and hurtful behavior from my residents all the time, and while the staff do what we can to intervene and redirect, it's not something we can stop entirely.
I only know of one explicitly LGBTQ-oriented nursing facility in New England, and frankly I can't find anything other than opening announcements from nearly two years ago, so I don't even know if it's still there. SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) has opened the first LGBTQ-oriented senior center in NYC. There is a definite need for more options like this in tandem with educating providers generally.
I'm very glad to see that this film is out there and hope it will help to raise awareness. I wish I could make it required viewing at the facility where I work and, really, any service organization that serves the elderly. Lacking the power to do that, I encourage you to watch and share this film.
It includes interviews with a lesbian couple, two gay men who became caregivers for their partners, and a transwoman diagnosed with terminal cancer. All bring up issues of being concerned about obstacles to obtaining appropriate care, and what that care might need to be. As one advocate on the film points out, organizations may think they are very positively interacting with the LGBTQ people they serve, but what about those who are afraid to seek services because they simply don't know where they will be safe to do so, especially after having bad experiences.
The story about the home health aide who pulled out a Bible to pray with a gay client and told that person that "it wasn't too late" absolutely made smoke come out of my ears. Many issues, though, are more subtle, and probably don't even enter the thought processes of most providers. And elder abuse is a very real problem, so to be afraid that it will be exacerbated by homophobia and/or transphobia is entirely, unfortunately, realistic. Not to mention, in the context of either supportive housing or skilled nursing facility, concern about the other residents' attitudes and behavior. I see cliquish and hurtful behavior from my residents all the time, and while the staff do what we can to intervene and redirect, it's not something we can stop entirely.
I only know of one explicitly LGBTQ-oriented nursing facility in New England, and frankly I can't find anything other than opening announcements from nearly two years ago, so I don't even know if it's still there. SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) has opened the first LGBTQ-oriented senior center in NYC. There is a definite need for more options like this in tandem with educating providers generally.
I'm very glad to see that this film is out there and hope it will help to raise awareness. I wish I could make it required viewing at the facility where I work and, really, any service organization that serves the elderly. Lacking the power to do that, I encourage you to watch and share this film.
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