2.3 KiB
2.3 KiB
#rs/class/hea150 #rs/discussion
- I read the article "What LGBTQ Seniors Face in Assisted Living and Care Facilities" from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine. This article discussed many of the challenges of aging LGBTQ+ people who are starting to need to go into long-term care. It discusses how many assisted-living homes have a lot of discrimination and how many LGBTQ+ people have to go into the closet for long-term care. The article then goes into the current lack of training for staff on meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ people. This results in them not knowing how to properly care for everyone and means that many assisted-living homes are not a good option for aging LGBTQ+ people. One part of this article that stood out to me was when it discussed that another challenge for aging LGBTQ+ people currently is that many of them do not have adult children to help care for them. This is dues to same-sex marriage not being legalized when most of them were of childbearing age and adoption and fertility options being much more limited. I hadn't thought of this, and it was memorable since it is a unique challenge that only current aging LGBTQ+ people are facing.
- I chose to read the article "Sexuality and Intimacy in Older Adults" from the National Institute on Aging. This article discussed many changes that might occur in people's sexual lives as they age. It says how many older people redefine what sexuality and intimacy mean to them and might look for different things than they had previously. The article talks about both physical and emotional changes such as fewer distractions, more time, and health conditions. It then goes through a list of things that might cause problems in the sexual lives of older adults such as arthritis, chronic pain, dementia, and heart disease. There are many medications and other ways to get around these challenges, and this reading suggests solutions such as exploring new options or looking for medications.
- One of the things that I was surprised about in the video was the openness that many of the older people interviewed discussed their sex lives with. The older adults in my life don't discuss these things, likely since there is the idea that they aren't appropriate to discuss with others. It seems like especially with older people it is seen as socially inappropriate to discuss sex or sexuality with others.