Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:14:41.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gay and lesbian carers: ageing in the shadow of dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2011

ELIZABETH PRICE
ELIZABETH PRICE*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Elizabeth Price, Department of Social Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article reports on findings from a qualitative study, undertaken in England, which explored the experiences of 21 gay men and lesbian women who care, or cared, for a person with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore this experience through the lens of a person's gay or lesbian sexuality. The paper reports two related themes that emerged from the wider study – respondents' hopes, fears and plans for the future and, specifically, the way in which their caring experiences had coloured their views and expectations of how their own health and social care needs may be met. Respondents' narratives reflect a range of pervasive anxieties about the future. First, about the possibility that they might be diagnosed with a condition such as dementia and, consequently, the myriad ways in which their sexualities and lifestyle choices may be perceived and interpreted as they themselves age and, possibly, require health and/or social care and support. In light of these concerns, respondents reflected upon the need for specialist service provision for older gay and lesbian people – an idea that was, perhaps surprisingly, not universally welcomed.

Keywords

gay and lesbian sexualitiesfuture care needsspecialist provisiondementia
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , April 2012 , pp. 516 - 532
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archibald, C. 1998. Sexuality, dementia and residential care: managers’ report and response. Health and Social Care in the Community, 6, 2, 95–101.Google Scholar
Archibald, C. 2001. Resident sexual expression and the key worker relationship: an unspoken stress in residential care work? Practice, 13, 1, 5–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Archibald, C. 2002 a. Half of them are dying on their feet but they still have strength for that. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.Google Scholar
Archibald, C. 2002 b. Sexuality and dementia in residential care – whose responsibility? Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 17, 3, 301–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Archibald, C. 2004. Sexuality and dementia: beyond the pale? In Innes, A., Archibald, C. and Murphy, C. (eds), Dementia and Social Inclusion. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, 96–113.Google Scholar
Barbara, A. M., Quandt, S. A. and Anderson, R. T. 2001. Experiences of lesbians in the health care environment. Women and Health, 34, 1, 45–62.Google Scholar
Beehler, G. P. 2001. Confronting the culture of medicine: gay men's experiences with primary care physicians. Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, 5, 4, 135–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brotman, S., Ryan, B., Collins, S., Chamberland, L., Cormier, R., Julien, D., Meyer, E., Peterkin, A. and Richard, B. 2007. Coming out to care: caregivers of gay and lesbian seniors in Canada. The Gerontologist, 47, 4, 490–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brotman, S., Ryan, B. and Cormier, R. 2002. Writings in Gerontology: Mental Health and Aging. Volume 2, Mental Health Issues of Particular Groups: Gay and Lesbian Seniors. National Advisory Council on Aging, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Cant, B. and Taket, A. 2007. Lesbian and gay experiences of primary care in one borough in North London, UK. Diversity in Health and Social Care, 3, 4, 271–9.Google Scholar
Cantor, M. H., Brennan, M. and Shippy, R. A. 2004. Caregiving Among Older Lesbian, Gay and Transgender New Yorkers. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, New York.Google Scholar
Cohler, B. J. 1999. Aging, Generation and the Course of Gay and Lesbian Lives. Paper presented at the conference ‘New Approaches to Research on Sexual Orientation, Mental Health and Substance Abuse’, National Institute of Mental Health, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Cronin, A. 2004. Sexuality in gerontology: a heteronormative presence, a queer absence. In S. O., Daatland and S., Biggs (eds), Ageing and Diversity: Multiple Pathways and Cultural Migrations. The Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 107–124.Google Scholar
Daker-White, G., Beattie, A. M., Means, R. and Gilliard, J. 2002. Serving the Needs of Marginalised Groups in Dementia Care: Younger People and Minority Ethnic Groups. Final Report. Available online at http://www.dementia-voice.org.uk/Projects/finalreport.pdf [Accessed 26 July 2010].Google Scholar
Eliason, M. J. and Schope, R. 2001. Does ‘don't ask don't tell’ apply to health care? Lesbian, gay and bisexual people's disclosure to health care providers. Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, 5, 4, 125–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, J. 2006. Heterosexism in Health and Social Care. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaser, B. G. and Strauss, A. L. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago.Google Scholar
Hash, K. M. 2001. Caregiving and post-caregiving experiences of midlife and older gay men and lesbians. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, S. 1994. Diversity with a difference: on being old and lesbian. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 1, 1, 109–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaphy, B. and Yip, A. K. T. 2006. Policy implications of ageing sexualities. Social Policy and Society, 5, 4, 443–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaphy, B., Yip, A. and Thompson, D. 2003. Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Lives Over 50. York House Publications, Nottingham, UK.Google Scholar
Heaphy, B., Yip, A. and Thompson, D. 2004. Ageing in a non-heterosexual context. Ageing & Society, 24, 881–902.Google Scholar
Help and Care 2006. Gay and Grey in Dorset: Lifting the Lid on Sexuality and Ageing. Help and Care Development, Bournemouth, UK.Google Scholar
Hubbard, R. and Rossington, J. 1995. As We Grow Older: A Study of the Housing and Support Needs of Older Lesbians and Gay Men. Polari Housing Association, London.Google Scholar
Kehoe, M. 1989. Lesbians Over 60 Speak for Themselves. Harrington Park Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kvale, S. 1996. Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Lucco, A. J. 1987. Housing preferences of older homosexuals. Journal of Homosexuality, 14, 3/4, 35–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manthorpe, J. and Hettiaratchy, P. 1993. Ethnic minority elders in the UK. International Review of Psychiatry, 5, 2/3, 171–8.Google Scholar
McCracken, C. F. M., Boneham, M. A., Copeland, J. R. M., Williams, K. E., Wilson, K., Scott, A., McKibbin, P. and Cleave, N. 1997. Prevalence of dementia and depression among elderly people in black and ethnic minorities. British Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 269–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, W. R. 2002. Lesbian and gay elders: connecting care providers through a telephone support group. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 14, 3, 23–41.Google Scholar
Opening Doors in Thanet 2003. Equally Different: Report on the Situation of Older Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendered People in Thanet, Kent. Opening Doors in Thanet, Ramsgate, UK.Google Scholar
Patel, N., Mirza, N. R., Lindblad, P. and Samaoli, O. 1998. Dementia and Minority Ethnic Older People: Managing Care in the UK, Denmark and France. Russell House, Lyme Regis, UK.Google Scholar
Price, E. 2006. Ageing against the grain: gay men and lesbians. In Burke, P. and Parker, J. (eds), Social Work and Disadvantage: Addressing Issues of Stigma Through Association. Jessica Kingsley, London, 97–110.Google Scholar
Price, E. 2007. Pride or prejudice: gay men, lesbians and dementia. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 1337–52.Google Scholar
Price, E. 2010. Coming out to care: gay and lesbian carers' experiences of dementia. Health and Social Care in the Community, 18, 2, 160–8.Google Scholar
Pugh, S. 2002. The forgotten: a community without a generation – older lesbians and gay men. In Richardson, D. and Seidman, S. (eds), Handbook of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Sage, London, 161–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rait, G., Burns, A. and Chew, C. 1996. Age, ethnicity, and mental illness: a triple whammy. British Medical Journal, 313, 7069, 1347–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roscoe, W. 1988. Making history: the challenge of gay and lesbian studies. Journal of Homosexuality, 15, 3/4, 1–40.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, D. 2003. The Changing of the Guard: Lesbian and Gay Elders, Identity and Social Change. Temple University Press, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Seidman, S. 2004. Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Yeo, G. and Gallagher-Thompson, D. (eds) 1996. Ethnicity and the Dementias. Taylor & Francis, Washington DC.Google Scholar