Thursday, September 15, 2016

As We Grow Older…

Sometimes we become isolated and cutoff from our friends. Many LGBT people do not have any children and their families might have cut ties with them.
‘Elder Orphans’ Have a Harder Time Aging in Place
Why we need more services for those without family
Next Avenue
By Carol Marak
September 8, 2016

Thriving in a place that’s safe and comfortable, surrounded by cozy memories, is a natural desire of older adults. We treasure independence and want a space to call our own, and we prefer that place to reflect the person we’ve become. We understand that aging bids compromise, and once 65 hits, the changes bring reminders that we’re no longer the same. We don’t move as quickly, we don’t multitask as well, nor do we easily adapt. Those are the simple cues. As we age, the physical and mental challenges delivered through loss, immobility and dependence are the ones that put us at higher risks.

Who Is an Elder Orphan?
However, the effects of aging land harder on an “elder orphan,” because the worry and concern of “what will become of me if I can’t care for myself?” triples when no one is around. An elder orphan has no adult children, spouse or companion to rely on for company, assistance or input. About 29 percent (13.3 million) of noninstitutionalized older persons live alone. The majority of those are women (9.2 million, vs. 4.1 million men).

The stresses of living alone will likely worsen for the boomers as a group since we have fewer children, more childless marriages and more divorces compared to earlier generations.
Here in Connecticut we are doing something to bring out LGBT seniors, area towns are holding LGBT days at their senior centers. The next one will be at Manchester Senior Center on September 24 from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM come on and join us.



This morning I was at a conference where I gave a workshop presentation and right now I am at a meeting from the Community Research Alliance where we discuss how we can improve research projects to include our community members. For me it is the trans community, one of the suggestions that I made for a professor who was studying diabetes in seniors was to change one question and add one question on his survey… “What was your gender assigned at birth?” and “What is your gender?”

1 comment:

  1. great piece, Diana. Here in the US, we have very few option which integrate seniors into the community, never mind LGBT seniors. Imagine if we had planned housing which included the youngest and oldest members, all interacting, some communal meals, social times with all ages. now, that would keep the oldest members engaged and benefit the younger families as well.

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