Aging & Social Change: Fourteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Amidst the expansion of the ageing demographic in the world, more attention is being paid to the specific well-being needs of the older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) population, particularly given reported welfare inequalities for these minority groups and the position of their sexual orientations and gender identities within a largely heteronormative health and social care system. Our study consists of three components. Through a hermeneutic phenomenology approach, the first component seeks to explore the meanings attributed by community dwelling older LGBTI individuals (50 years old and over) to their lived experiences of receiving homecare in Ireland. The second, and quantitative, component consists of a survey of care workers, providing homecare to older people, about their attitudes towards, and knowledge of, the LGBTI population. Informed by the integration of the results of these two approaches, the third component of this research aims to develop and implement an educative intervention to enable professional caregivers providing homecare services to deliver an inclusive, person-centred care for older LGBTI people. We present preliminary results from our interview data, which point to the importance of achieving a level of care based on comfort, respect, and attention and the establishment of mutual knowledge between the caregiver and the care recipient. We also showcase components of the educational resource. Overall, the project provides an evidence base on which home care policies and guidelines pertaining to community dwelling older LGBTI people can be developed in Ireland.