TRAJECTORIES OF CARE FOR LGBT (LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANS) AGEING POPULATIONS

Abstract

AbstractThis symposium presents research from the UK, US and Canada which focuses on aspects of care and the care needs for ageing lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people. The symposium will offer insights which contribute to broader understandings of the heterogeneity of ageing. It showcases cutting edge research in the field which provides compelling evidence for the need to recognize and address the unique care needs of older LGBT individuals - a diverse new ageing population worthy of more attention within gerontology. In particular, this symposium demonstrates that despite recent socio-legal shifts, LGBT people are still an invisible and marginalised population in care settings and their life-stories and relationships are frequently overlooked by care providers. The paper by Hafford-Letchfield et al., present findings from a pilot scheme designed to find ways to enhance the inclusion of older LGBT residents in English care homes. Flatt et al., address the area of long term care in the US, identifying predisposing, enabling and need factors of older LGBT people. The papers by both Almack and De Vries et al., focus on the unique experiences and diversity of support needs of LGBT older people towards the end of life, in the UK and Canada respectively. All four papers raise issues of intersections between ageing, gender identity and sexual orientation in different geographical contexts and across a range of care settings.