Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ+ Elders
Older LGBTQ+ people in care
At least 1.5 million people in the UK identify as LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer). They may have a greater need to access social care, specifically residential care, as they are more likely to live alone.
Research shows that older people who are LGBTQ+ experience discrimination when they use social care services, including residential care homes. During public consultation conversations, LGBTQ+ people told us that they are worried about going into residential care.
This is an ongoing issue and raises some important questions on how we can create more inclusive care models. Researchers from the University of Kent, Centre for Health Services Studies, led by Jolie Keemink, a leading researcher in this field, aims to address some of these questions in the CIRCLE study (Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ+ Elders).
The Community of Practice
The project aim is to support residential care providers to be more inclusive towards older LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, +) people. To support ongoing learning in inclusive care practices, we are setting up an online Community of Practice (CoP); a group of people who share a common interest, come together to share best practice(s) and create new knowledge. This Community of Practice will focus on LGBTQ+ inclusive practice, and function as a support group enabling ongoing improvement and learning related to LGBTQ+ equality, diversity, and inclusion in residential care provision.
The group will be a safe space for people to discuss any concerns or issues arising regarding creating an inclusive LGBTQ+ environment for people, as well as having guest speakers, and training opportunities. This CoP is aimed at residential care providers (for older people), care commissioners, older LGBTQ+ people, and others to whom this area is relevant.
For the fifth CoP, Dr Mark Wilberforce from The University of York will be presenting about Curious About Care. This is a value-based recruitment method that uses real-life scenarios that care workers could encounter to help you find the best candidates for caring roles. In this CoP meeting we will consider how value-based recruitment can be used to ensure that newly recruited care workers are LGBTQ+ inclusive.
More information about the tool can be found here:https://curiousaboutcare.org.uk/
