Embracing Pride for healthier, happier ageing and end-of-life

June is Pride month. If there is ever a community we could all learn from in looking after the ageing and the dying, it’s the LGBTQIA+ community.

This is a group of people who help each other through all kinds of crisis. They work tirelessly to promote dignity and to remove shame. They focus on inclusion and making space for everyone to find a new way forward. Even if that way forward means leaving behind unsympathetic families or rejection from other corners of society.

The LGBTQIA+ community history of caring for others is long and involved.

Drag Queens may be something we see as theatre or as costuming and cosplay, but early activism by Drag Queens brought a noticeable crowd together who stood up against political tyranny. These radical acts promoted stories of equality on the stage and in the streets. They challenged the norm vocally and told young people it was OK to not only be what they wanted to be, they could do it with an open heart and in public. Drag Queens cared enough to face the system and empower others to challenge it directly.

Blood Sisters in the 1980s were Lesbian nurses and carers who refused to turn away from AIDS and HIV patients, offering them care, standing tall against prejudice, and giving blood to infected members of their own – and other – communities caught up in the prejudice and fear that resulted that denied access to blood banks. They ran their own health campaigns to fight the fear and remind people of their humanity and obligation to their fellow human being. Without their courage and their care, how many people would have needlessly died? Or died shunned and in terrible circumstances?

Pride is still necessary. The current situation in the USA is problematic and frightening for these reasons. And while these acts may seem like nothing outside the historical context of the LGBTQIA+ community, young queer youth are still far more likely to attempt suicide than any other group. Add colour and race to the mix, and it becomes even more precarious. Mental health, an often-overlooked aspect of all our health, can be dented, damaged and even broken by the humiliation and exclusion all LGBTQIA+ people face. Homeless rates are higher. Schooling is a mix of bullying and low grade tolerance that can include exclusion and emotional, social, and physical abuse.

Access, a lack of visibility, and pre-existing systems forgetting the necessity for nuance in all marginalised groups hinder health outcomes for LGBTQIA+, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Disabled, Person of Colour, and ageing people.

And yet, LGBTQIA+ health researchers in Australia have taken up the mantle of improving health and wellness, particularly in regional Australia, through a very simple yet practical system anyone can access – proper feedback loops.?The feedback loops include:

1.????Aware, recognise, talk, refer, network – tapping into healthcare professionals and teaching them the importance of looking outside bias or “what we’ve always done” to include queer perspectives and language to normalise and further educate pathways to support across a wide range of health services

2.????Embed current queer lived experience in healthcare practice – that includes not only information sharing but challenging the thinking and approaches. So much of health, aged care, and mental health relies on self-directed action. By creating an inclusive approach to action, it increases the likelihood of successfully encouraging a LGBTQIA+ person to follow a plan or access a service

3.????Power, disclosure, and inclusiveness in healthcare systems – making it safe for people to disclose their sexuality (or their mental health condition, disability or health) is part of the battle when providing care. Having an agnostic approach to talking about care (not CIS, White, gendered etc) makes space for people to feel welcome and talk about their experiences more openly. Which improves care outcomes

4.????Availability and capacity of queer-run health service providers - Representation of LGBTQIA+ and lived experience matters. We’re not all the same and we feel more comfortable when we’re with people who understand our experience of life, love, health, death or community. If there are no queer-led services, how do we bridge the gap? Employment? Programs? Relationships with organisations? Touring visits? Telehealth? These are the questions all care providers should be asking

5.????Queer advocacy promoting queer life and identities – this isn’t about doing a training program and then going back to the old ways of referring to “Ladies” in the email to the women’s help clinic newsletter or having someone LGBTQIA+ come and speak only to put the brochures under the counter, out of view. It’s about building ongoing relationships and visibility that change what goes on

When we look at this model, this isn’t only applicable to Pride or LGBTQIA+ outcomes. It’s about improving all healthcare and end-of-life services. We all benefit from advocacy, visibility, diversity of experience, removing power imbalances, community-led initiatives, inclusive care, and being receptive to change, growth, and challenging ourselves to include as many people as we can.

This Pride Month, we’d love to work with more organisations that want to walk the walk and:

·??????Use our care plans as a way of creating agnostic, customisable and culturally appropriate?healthcare, aged care, disability care and mental health plans

·??????Take advantage of the training we offer to engage staff in the care conversation in a diverse, practical and inclusive way

·??????Use more services that provide inclusive care as an adjunct and embedded part of your offerings

·??????Be open about the challenges in providing inclusive care and share your own commitments to providing LGBTQIA+ community members access and support

Are you with us? Share the ways you’re celebrating Pride with your audience and organisation in the comments below.

Photo by?Cecilie Johnsen?on?Unsplash