Oct 19, 2019
ENC Endorses Initiative To Help Our LGBTQ Seniors
Still from film "Gen Silent"
As LGBTQ people age in America, our society lacks systems and services to meet the unique needs of LGBTQ seniors -- many of whom don’t have children or significant others to take part in their care. It’s a massively important -- and often under-looked -- issue for our community.
In order to help shift our culture to adequately address the needs of LGBTQ seniors in America, SAGE and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation have created the Long-term Care Equality Index (LEI). It’s an assessment tool that will help these healthcare communities adopt policies and best practices to provide affirming care to LGBTQ older adults, as well as provide resources and technical assistance to bring these policies and practices to life.
Over 50 organizations have endorsed the LEI since its announcement in April, including Equality NC. I’ll be serving alongside other LGBTQ voices on a National Advisory Council to develop this tool to help residential long-term care communities serve LGBTQ older adults with care and compassion. If you’re curious to learn more about the Long-Term Care Equality Index, I recently spoke about the LEI with NC Health News in an article about the Healthcare Equality Index that you can read here.
With any luck, we will all be seniors one day. It’s on all of us to compassionately help LGBTQ seniors age with dignity.
Ames Simmons, Equality NC Policy Director