Home Comforts, When Nursing A Fear Of Aged Care
The Age
Wednesday September 17, 2008
THELMA Solomon always liked a good fight. A radical feminist who campaigned for women's rights in the '60s, she never feared battles. But when a doctor told her she had terminal cancer six years ago, Thelma was scared to leave her home.
"The doctor said he could put us on to all the services, but Thelma said, 'No, I will plan this with Maureen and we will work it out'," Thelma's partner Maureen, 75, recalls. "We talked about it and decided to get a team of women to look after her until the end."Thelma died peacefully in 2003, in her home, surrounded by a "chain of lesbians" including nurses and cleaners, because she feared her relationship would not be respected anywhere else.Thelma and Maureen grew up when homosexuality was illegal and considered by some to be a disease in need of a medical cure. While Thelma's lesbian network rallied to nurse her until the end, the effect of historical discrimination is sending some people back into the "closet" when they use aged care services, a La Trobe University health researcher has found.Dr Catherine Barrett's study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex seniors in aged care has revealed fear and discrimination in Victorian nursing homes.Interviews with 19 people who use various services and facilities revealed people sinking into depression because they felt compelled to hide their sexuality after years of being openly gay, her report says.Some people thought disclosure would lead to diminished care - including gay men who feared their sexuality would be associated with HIV or AIDS. Others, who disclosed their identity, had been ridiculed and harassed by staff, carers or other residents, the report says.One man in his 80s said he did not want staff at his hostel to know he was gay because it would "disappoint" them. Another man, who told nursing home staff he was married to a woman, said he could not keep gay magazines in his room because it would "out" him."I'm not able to live a gay man's life in a nursing home," the man, who is sometimes snuck out by friends to visit a drag show, told Dr Barrett.The study found inadequate levels of care for some people, including restricted opportunities for sexual expression. This included barring physical contact between partners and banning cross-dressing. But many staff did not realise how important sexual and cultural expression - such as hugging, kissing, cross-dressing and masturbation - was for those seniors' mental health, Dr Barrett says."It's expected that, by 2050, a quarter of the population will be 65 years or older," she says in the report."While there are no accurate figures on the percentage of seniors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, the proportion of the general population that is not exclusively heterosexual is thought to be between 8 and 11%. Aged care services will increasingly find themselves caring for (these people)." Some are already capitalising on the growing demand for more tailored services.Peter Dickson recently bought land in Ballan, about an hour west of Melbourne, to build Australia's first gay retirement village. "No one should be alone, as they age, because of their sexuality," he says. Mr Dickson has had more than 60 expressions of interest from people wanting to buy into his village. With requests for a similar village on the table for Apollo Bay, he says he believes his business idea is just the beginning.
© 2008 The Age
