CIRCLE Community of Practice

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.

During the first CoP, we will discuss in more detail what the aims of the group are. We will hear from two people that have experience of using services from an LGBTQ+ viewpoint, and a member of Opening Doors, the leading national charity supporting LGBTQ+ people over 50, will present on the current programme they offer to help organisations be more inclusive.

This free event will be held on Zoom, please sign up to receive the link.

If you have any questions, please contact Grace Collins on g.collins@kent.ac.uk.

A research study, funded by the National Institute of Health & Care Research, Applied Research Collaboration Kent Surrey Sussex