A best practice type of care for older people of the LGBTQ+ area is being developed in a partnership between universities, top systems, aged care companies, and LGBTQ+ organisations.
Before being implemented nationwide, it will be tested in 19 aging treatment facilities.
and will conduct a trial of the design, which will be Australia’s first of its kind.
Southern Cross University is working with La Trobe University, University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, and Edith Cowan University on the job titled” Co-creating rainbow- diverse care for gender and biologically different people in home grown care.”
The research team did engage LGBTQ+ people and different stakeholders- including the Older Persons Advocacy Network, Australian Association of Gerontology, Aged and Community Care Providers Association, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, and GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc- to interview aged care staff and co- design a model for equitable home grown care. To assist providers in putting the model into practice, they will create guidelines and resources.
The Federal Government is providing funding for the$ 1.5 million, five-year,$ 1.5 million project through a grant from the Medical Research Future Fund. Findings from the trial will be applied to the development of the model for a nationwide rollout.
Southern Cross University’s Professor Mark Hughes, who is leading the project, said,” The fact that many LGBTQ+ people do n’t have adult children to support them in older age is also a concern. Many people have close friends who play that part, but the current residential aged care system does not sufficiently encourage LGBTQ+ people to stay connected to their friends and communities.
found that providing safe, supportive aged care for people from diverse backgrounds was essential.
