The first report of its kind to focus on LGBTQ seniors has revealed a “glaring absence” of LGBTQ awareness at assisted living and residential care homes.
QMUNITY, BC’s Queer Resource Centre, contacted every assisted living facility in the Lower Mainland and what they found was that, without exception, each provider reported the same number of LGBTQ seniors in care: Zero.
This is statistically impossible and underscores the harsh reality that many LGBTQ seniors are being forced back into the closet, according to QMUNITY executive director Dara Parker.
“Imagine the irony of going back into the closet, after having fought to march in the first Pride parade,” she said in a press release. “We [found] that 77 per cent of LGBTQ seniors report pressure to meet heteronormative expectations – in short, they feel the need to re-closet in order to feel safe while in care.”
The report recommends health care professionals begin collecting sexual orientation and gender identity information upon intake into care facilities.
The report also encourages the creation of LGBTQ-appropriate practices for care facilities, including training staff in LGBTQ competency, anti-discrimination policies, ensuring common areas are a comfortable and safe for LGBTQ residents and their partners, and encouraging connections with LGBTQ community groups.
“It is critical that seniors feel safe and accepted wherever they live,” said Isobel Mackenzie, Canada’s first government-appointed seniors advocate. “This report highlights the challenges that can be faced by the LGBTQ community as they age and in particular when they move to assisted living and residential care.”
Ms. Mackenzie continues: “This report demonstrates that LGBTQ seniors experience discrimination and we must work to address this.”
In 2012, the combined seniors population in the Fraser Health Authority (FHA) and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) was 365,255. The report estimates the total combined LGBTQ seniors population is close to 26,000 and is expected to grow by four per cent over the next two years.
“As this community becomes especially vulnerable toward the last stages of their lives, we need to support and advocate on their behalf,” the report states. “The recommendations in this report are first steps towards making LGBTQ seniors visible and helping them have their needs met within VCHA and FHA”
