Welcoming All Communities in Toronto Long Term Care Homes and Services
By Gay Thomson, Concerned Friends representative on the LGBT committee
December 2009- In the fall of 2006, Concerned Friends was invited by Sandra Pitters, General Manager of Toronto Long Term Care Homes and Services (TLTCHS), to participate on a steering committee entitled the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Diversity Initiative. The purpose of the initiative was to champion the creation of welcoming communities in LTC homes for LGBT seniors. I was asked to represent Concerned Friends and thereby started one of the most interesting learning experiences of my career, as I knew very little of this community particularly in their aging years.
The committee was a diverse group – some, like myself, had professional knowledge of the LTC system but lacked knowledge of the LGBT community, while others who knew the community well, had little knowledge of the LTC system or the needs of other residents. We all had a lot of learning to do. Under the skilled leadership of Michael Saunders, staff Advocate for Toronto Long Term Care Homes and Services, we achieved our goal.
Just over two years later on January 30, 2009 , TLTCHS launched their manual “Diversity our Strength” which is now available for all to read on their website www.toronto.ca.ltc Look for the LGBT Tool Kit tab on the left-hand side of the page under the heading of "Culture of Inclusion". Once you have accessed this tab, at the end of the introduction is another tab, which brings up the LGBT Tool Kit. Many of the committee members had advocated from the beginning that all the information and learning that would be gathered through the project should be valuable to the whole LTC community. In the manual there is an acknowledgement that the Steering Committee saw themselves building on the report originally initiated by Concerned Friends entitled "Creating Welcoming Communities in Long-Term Care Homes" (2008). It is hoped that the use of both manuals will be widespread. Interest has been expressed about this GBLT project from across the country and as far away as Australia .
The manual provides a step-by-step process on every aspect of creating a welcoming community sensitive to the GBLT resident and their families. In addition consideration is given to recognition and recruitment of staff from this community. In fact, one of the first steps in the process is to find a champion who is LGBT culturally competent and can spearhead the process. It would seem the best resource would be a member of the community.
It is likely that there could be as many as 7% -10% of the long-term care home population who are gay/lesbian - this is the figure quoted for the general population and it is to be expected they are in our homes as well. Among current residents this community is almost certainly invisible. This generation has not readily disclosed their sexual orientation for fear of prejudice, consequently they resist using mainstream medical services, let alone moving into a home. Yet their needs may be greater than the heterosexual population. They may have lost partners due to AIDS/HIV, they are unlikely to have children to support them, and may have been rejected by family members years ago. These things will change in succeeding generations but in the meantime we need to be particularly sensitive to the needs of this population amongst current residents. This manual is great tool to help homes think about and deal with these issues. The manual includes extensive additional information in the appendices, including background information on the steering committee, the history of the Gay Lesbian movement, glossary and definitions, information for setting up activity programs, internet sites and relevant articles.
Toronto Long Term Care Homes and Services are to be congratulated on their initiative in launching this project in response to concerns from the community and in raising awareness of an important area of need. |
