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An interactive presentation and open discussion of the needs of an LGBTQ+ person living with Dementia
Joint Event on 12th International Conference on Vascular Dementia and Dementia & 8th International Conference on Neurological Disorders and Stroke
March 14-16, 2019 | London, UK
Phil Harper
University of Worcester, UK
Posters & Accepted Abstracts : J Brain Neurol
Abstract:
Session Objectives:
• To identify key needs of LGBTQ+ people who may be living
with dementia
• To think about current service provision for LGBTQ+ people
who may be living with dementia
• To explore theories within sexuality and gender and their
application for a person living with dementia.
• To demonstrate knowledge about how a person’s identity is
linked with their sexuality and Gender and the implications this
could have for a person living with dementia.
Fictional Case study: Alice is a transgender person who is living
with Alzheimer’s disease. Alice identifies as a woman, she has
had gender reassignment surgery. Alice is in the moderate stage
of her Alzheimer’s disease. Alice is currently living in a residential
care home specialising in dementia care. Alice in later years has
identified as a lesbian.
Context: According to the Semlyen (2016) there are no accurate
statistics on LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and
Queer) people living with dementia. However, it is estimated
that there are 1.2 million older gay and lesbian people in the
U.K (Semlyen 2016). If you apply this statistic to the fact that
one in fourteen people over the age of 65 may develop a form
of dementia (Alzheimer’s Society 2017), you can estimate that
there could be approximately 85,714 gay and lesbian people
with dementia. This approximate demonstrates that there is a
need for services such as care homes to recognise the specific
needs of a Gay and lesbian person with dementia. The estimate
however does not take into account transgender or other nonbinary
people living with dementia, the number of LGBTQ+
people with dementia could therefore be a greater number.
Biography:
E-mail:
P.harper@worc.ac.ukPDF HTML