Comg Out to Care: Caregivers of Gay and Lbian Senrs Canada | The Gerontologist | Oxford Amic

Contents:

• STANDING WITH AUSTRALIA'S LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY“IT IS BETTER TO BE HATED FOR WHAT YOU ARE THAN TO BE LOVED FOR WHAT YOU ARE NOT.” ANDRE GIROSS WARRENRAYMOND KEAMIT TOOK 32 YEARS AND 2 LN DOLLARS REWARD FOR STEVE JOHNSON AND THE NEW SOUTH WAL POLICE FORCE TO TABLISH HIS BROTHER STT  (PICTURED)  WAS MURRED MANLY FOR BEG A HOMOSEXUAL.JOHN RSELLGILL MATTAIGAYCARE OBJECTIVES
• GAY CARE
• GAYCARE AUSTRALIA OPENG HOURS
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU
• GAY CARE ATRALIA

STANDING WITH AUSTRALIA'S LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY“IT IS BETTER TO BE HATED FOR WHAT YOU ARE THAN TO BE LOVED FOR WHAT YOU ARE NOT.” ANDRE GIROSS WARRENRAYMOND KEAMIT TOOK 32 YEARS AND 2 LN DOLLARS REWARD FOR STEVE JOHNSON AND THE NEW SOUTH WAL POLICE FORCE TO TABLISH HIS BROTHER STT  (PICTURED)  WAS MURRED MANLY FOR BEG A HOMOSEXUAL.JOHN RSELLGILL MATTAIGAYCARE OBJECTIVES

Heterosexism is the privilegg of heterosexualy over all other sexual orientatns and inti; although is often subtle and visible, heterosexism effectively works to create obstacl to achievg full equaly for gays and lbians (Brotman, Ryan, & Meyer, 2006) notable Canadian anizatns n by gay and lbian muny groups are the 519 Communy Centre Toronto and The Centre Vanuver, both of which have highly anized and advanced programs for gay and lbian senrs and their regivers.

GAY CARE

Yet spe their efforts, polici and practic addrsg issu facg gay and lbian senrs Canada ntue to be margal, particularly wh mastream health and social service this realy, is no surprise to fd that intifitn of and rponsivens to those providg rmal, unpaid regiver support to the senrs is even further removed om the health re agenda.

GAYCARE AUSTRALIA OPENG HOURS

Usg qualative exploratory terviews wh regivers that were unrtaken between 2002 and 2006, we explored some of the cril them that emerged the terviews, cludg self-inty as a regiver, the impact on regivers of real and anticipated discrimatn faced by gay and lbian senrs the health re system, g out and the role of regivers, and the need for specialized regiver support servic.

Rather than nsir the experience of rg for a gay or lbian olr adult, the lerature tends to approach the issue om the perspective of gay and lbian regivers, many of whom, admtedly, re for their gay or lbian partners, iends, or, more rarely, parents (Cantor, Brennan, & Shippy, 2004; Cantor, Shippy, & Brennan, 2002; Coon, 2004; Freriksen, 1999; Hash, 2001; Hash & Cramer, 2003; Moore, 2002; Shippy, Brennan, & Cantor, 2003; Shippy, Cantor, & Brennan, 2004).

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN'S HEALTH ISSU

Apart om those Shippy, Brennan, and Cantor's semal work on HIV regivg experienc among lbian and gay elrs, the dividuals receivg re most of studi on HIV and regivg reprent largely a young adult populatn (generally younger than 50 years old), and th their efulns for unrstandg the experienc of those rg for gay and lbian senrs is limed. The available scholarship has also reported that there exists signifint experienc of heterosexist and/or homophobic discrimatn at dividual, social, enomic, policy, and stutnal levels (Coon, 2004; Hash, 2001; Hash & Cramer, 2003; Hunter, 2005; Moore, 2002; Wenzel, 2002) few studi on gay and lbian regivg have poted to mon issu nsistent wh the general lerature on regivg, cludg managg regivg rponsibili, experiencg emotnal and physil stras, feelg tensn partner relatnships, and experiencg nflicts wh employment rponsibili (Hash, 2001; Hash & Cramer, 2003; Moore, 2002; Shippy et al., 2003). Supportive fay, iends, and profsnals often served as buffers to regiver stra, yet this support was not generally anticipated and rponnts seemed to expect sensive and unsupportive dividuals (Hash, 2001) and lleagu' (2004) more recent fdgs differed somewhat that their examatn of gay male regivers prented a picture where regivers received signifint support om blogil fay members.

Remarkably, however, one third of the rponnts exprsed the need for more aquate emotnal support, and most lled for the gay and lbian muny to fill the important role of rg for their work by the latter rearchers echoed the ll for psychologil and emotnal support for elr regivers wh gay and lbian muni (Cantor et al., 2004; Shippy et al., 2003). Many exprsed that their survival up to that pot had been largely based on ncealg their relatnships and/or sexual orientatn, makg munitn of feelgs and thoughts impossible the ntext of support groups (Moore, 2002) ncln, several them exist the small lerature currently available on regivg to gay and lbian senrs. The them clu anticipated and experienced forms of heterosexist and homophobic discrimatn the livery of health re rourc to gay and lbian senrs and their regivers; the challeng of intifyg onelf as gay or lbian, or as the regiver of a gay or lbian senr, the ntext of receivg health re servic; the management of regivg rponsibili; the experience of emotnal and physil stras; and the posive aspects of regivg, cludg those related to a monstratn of mment and the impact of rmal support on the well-beg of senrs and their regivers.

The foc on senrs, their regivers, and health and social service provirs facilated unrstandg of the potential dilemmas, gaps, siari, and differenc between the experienc of senrs and their regivers and the ways which service provirs unrstand and make sense of that termed rearch procs njunctn wh our lol and natnal partner anizatns, cludg those reprentg gay and lbian muny anizatns, health policy bodi, home re anizatns and regiver groups.

GAY CARE ATRALIA

In fact, some rearch has suggted that olr gay men and lbians succsfully engage iendships and experience a wi sense of muny throughout their liv that follows them to their senr years (Shippy et al., 2004; Thompson & Richardson, 2002) was ma evint the current study was that, for gay and lbian senrs, the oppose was equally te. (Partner, lbian)Fally, the existence of ageism the gay and lbian muny may have dimished the sense of muny felt younger years leadg to potential areas of vulnerabily as people aged: I thk that, the biggt worry was gettg olr … bee like he says, when you're young, you swg, you have iends … but when you start to lose your hair, then you're ls sexy and you are alone. This anticipated discrimatn was largely based upon prev negative enunters the health re system as experienced by gay and lbian senrs their younger years, but also clud such reali as hearg stori of discrimatn om others or experiencg discrimatn other ntexts (such as fay, school, or workplace settgs) that might have ed a person to velop a generalized expectatn of discrimatn.

”Problems related to current experienc of discrimatn (whether overt or vert) seemed particularly acute relatn to workers g to re receivers' hom: I do know people home re servic who, if they know a person is lbian or gay, will refe and say, “You mt send someone else bee I'm not fortable wh that suatn. When qutned whether he felt that sexual orientatn affected the qualy of health re and social servic that the re receiver would receive, one gay iend regiver rpond I thk, you know, fortunately he's able to voice his ncerns and exprs … what he wants … whereas there are people that, I'm sure, aren't able to, or are timidated and they would jt accept the stat quo and … not even necsarily [as good as] the stat quo … (Friend, gay)In addn, regivers also exprsed that beg out and havg higher self-teem ma advotg for servic easier: I thk the difference [is that] now … we have more of an expectatn that people will be more tolerant or more open than they were [back] then.

…”Needls to say, regardls of whether is through social volvement or through muny groups, the more nnectn a re receiver or regiver has wh his or her muny or wh gay or lbian iends, the more potential exists for a wir work of support; nsequently, the more potential exists for diffn of regiver rponsibily and mobilizatn of regiver support. Individuals who are isolated will be more vulnerable and th serve the particular attentn of service provirs and issue of fdg supportive environments for regivg children may have been more plex, however, as participants' iendship and fay circl did not necsarily nta dividuals who were gay iendly and, th, the regivers may have felt isolated their role. The clu such issu as the velopment of mandatory trag ssns on the needs, reali, and issu facg gay and lbian senrs and their regivers; the hirg of gay and lbian health re workers; specialized support groups or telephone support l for regivers rg for gay and lbian senrs; and muny outreach programs signed to ve gay and lbian muny health profsnals onto boards and mte wh mastream orr for experts to addrs the important ncerns revealed by this study, regiver participants ma several remendatns for current health and social service agenci and provirs the senr servic sector.

Five regiver rponnts eher anticipated or had experienced support groups operatg wh heterosexist ameworks, and this served as enough terrent for them not to accs those support servic that may have been of the regivers highlighted tn and trag of health and social service profsnals hop that the practners uld learn acceptance, addrs heterosexist assumptns, and nont homophobia. ” This clus but is not limed to such issu as trag employe at all levels so that they provi a warm and welg environment; g genr-ntral language discsns about relatnships, life history, and inty; providg opportuni to celebrate all forms of diversy; ensurg nfintialy munitn; supportg the wish senrs have regardg re planng and makg sure that they are unrstood and rpected; and engagg dialogue wh gay and lbian muny anizatns to enhance tegratn and knowledge transfer.

Although regiver support servic and voluntary regiver anizatns mt be ma more welg for regivers of gay and lbian senrs as a whole, may be bt to offer adult children a space to discs their unique experienc and to nnect wh one rults of this study clearly dite that although experienc of regivers to gay and lbian senrs often echo those of regivers to heterosexual olr adults, differenc do exist. This pots to a need for volvg gay and lbian health activists anizatns, servic, and policy velopment to ensure that issu of overt and subtle discrimatn are seen, highlighted, and addrsed cln of gay and lbian regivers already existg diversy agendas wh mastream senr servic and regiver anizatns is a necsy orr to advance rponsivens and support to them.

Future rearch areas clu some proposed prevly, such as a parative analysis of gay and lbian regivers, heterosexual regivers, and other mory regivers (cludg ethnocultural mory populatns); regivg to pre- and post-liberatn senrs; experienc ral ntexts and wh rpect to diverse social variabl, such as race, ethnicy, and class; legal and fancial ncerns the ntext of rights-based discsns across jurisdictns; regivg to gay and lbian senrs stutnal settgs; and regivg issu for bisexual and transgenred are many unexplored avenu of regivg to gay and lbian senrs. In this way, rearch fdgs n ntribute to the velopment of a mment to change on the part of gay and lbian muni and mastream health re sectors orr to guarantee that gay and lbian senrs and their fai fd support, fort, and servic signed to meet their needs as they wish to acknowledge the Canadian Instut of Health Rearch, the Social Scienc and Humani Rearch Council of Canada, and the Centre Santé et Servic Socix Cavendish/Universy Affiliated Rearch Centre Social Gerontology for their support of this rearch.