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Elder Care Professionals in Charlotte learn how to support LGBT Seniors

October 11, 2018

How we can help care for LGBT seniors in Charlotte

Elder Care Professionals in Charlotte learn how to support LGBT Seniors


SAGE Training Program helps senior care professionals better understand LGBT aging issues
 
Senior Care organizations are now seeking certification from SAGE (Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders) to show they are inclusive, or are at least raising awareness that LGBT seniors are supported..  Senior care leaders know that the estimated 3 million LGBT people over age 55 are an important market and look to SAGE, an advocacy organization for LGBT seniors, to help train and certify their organization to support LGBT Seniors.  
 
SAGE Training helps care providers better serve Seniors in our community.  Senior housing has many residents born in the 1920s and '30s, and SAGE provides a three-page timeline of being gay in America, developed by SAGE, to help shed light on LTBG Seniors’ fears.  What helps explains why so many older people fear senior housing is history.  Stacey Burling with The Philadelphia Inquirer writes about seniors as "They grew up gay in a time when police raided gay bars and the Navy persecuted gay soldiers, when gay men in Nazi concentration camps wore pink triangles. In the 1950s, the U.S. banned gay immigrants and the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a mental disorder. Then came the AIDS epidemic, years of activism and, finally, marriage equality. Yet acceptance remains far from universal."  In our parents and grandparents lifetime this all this happened.  Mike Rasmussen, Rose Tree's Assisted Living Marketing Director says "We are literally barely out of the primordial swamp in so many ways." when it comes to making LGBT Seniors feel accepted.
 
Some senior advocates believe LGBT seniors have reason to worry about care they might receive and say SAGE certification helps seniors find the best housing and care in the community.  Only a few groups in this area, including the Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley Chapter and the Montgomery County Aging and Adult Services have official SAGE certification.
 
Read more information about LGBT Senior Housing in the full article Click Here

BrightStar Care of Charlotte Supports an Aging LGBT Community

BrightStar Care of Charlotte, NC provides a full continuum of home care services comprised of companionship, personal care, dementia care, transportation, medication assistance, skilled nursing and more to improve LGBT clients’ health and quality of life.  

To learn more about our local team of caregivers, skilled healthcare professionals, and home health care support for Charlotte, NC families and businesses - CLICK HERE