Healthcare for LGBT+ elders

(Summary)-

To provide comprehensive health care services and affirming retirement facilities for LGBTQIA+ seniors. The LGBTQIA+ community suffers through common misconceptions and homophobia, the treatment gets complicated as one age, as, with societal expectations are not met, LGBTQIA+ elders are secluded and face hard times when they need healthcare support. Zimbabwe is a country where LGBTQIA+ people are discriminated against because identifying as such is considered taboo.

(Vision)-

A world where marginalized elderly people are living a dignified and healthy life.

(Mission)-

To advocate for quality healthcare services that are friendly to LGBTQIA+ elderly people and offer safe and secure accommodation. Creating a database on the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ elders, their health needs, and concerns.

(Personal background and motivation)-

Being gay and Zimbabwean, I have experienced how challenging it can be to access friendly health care services. After subconsciously sharing about my sexuality with a health caregiver I ended up leaving the facility with humiliation and no treatment. Ever since I have become hesitant to seek any medical assistance. But however, I am young and still energetic, my main concern is with the senior members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who are dependent or in need of medical care, and cannot access it.

(Problem)-

Ageism is a major challenge and growing old alone is what most people in the world fear. In Zimbabwe, same-sex relationships are criminalized and there is high intolerance of identifying anything other than ticking the heteronormative boxes. LGBTQI+ elderly people face multiple blows of these challenges. The LGBTQI+ people emphasize a lot on image and physical appearance, which diminishes the value of those above 30. It is common to hear the younger Zimbabwean generations referring to older LGBTQI+ people as “chigogodera” which is a derogatory reference to aging. Despite steps having been taken in improving healthcare services for LGBTQI+ people, it is still discriminatory as it focuses mostly on the younger generation, with services mostly available in big cities. These are facilities not easily accessible to the older generation, with most living alone without caregivers since most are disowned or treated with shame by families, especially after crossing a certain age without marrying and having children. There is a need for competent interventions in healthcare, that are tailored for the LGBTQI+ elderly people, together with friendly accommodation.

(Solution)-

The program is named Total Together with an aim to bring the LGBTQI+ community together while providing safe spaces and competent health services for LGBTQIA+ elders.

If we can foster policy change in these facilities and align them to better literature that projects the needs of LGBTQIA+ elders, then more people will receive treatment and also feel safe in the healthcare facilities or old age homes.

Workshops will be held to train clinicians and service providers in existing homes and facilities. The workshops will also indirectly gather information and create a database on the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ elders, their fears, and success stories. Through delivering healthcare-care support to the elders, the mainstream community, policymakers, and prominent people in our community with the power to affect policy change will be our target group.

We want to contribute to a society that is more tolerant and understanding towards LGBTQIA+ people and provide more information on the LGBTQIA+ elders. The key populations' atlas is void of LGBTQIA+ elder data. It is of greater importance that while on advocacy we compile stories and health situations of the LGBTQI+ elders.

To create a social impact we need to advocate first in the already existing facilities, and nature a way for them to be inclusive and provide services to all elders regardless of sexuality or gender. To reach out to our beneficiaries, we will need:-

* To purchase general medical supplies which will be administered by a friendly and trained clinician,

* Accommodation for our workshops, which will be held in different provinces

* Stationery

* Recording equipment, microphone (Lavier), Lights, Small Camera, and Hard disk

This is for documenting stories told by elders, acting out, and creating video snippets for future workshops

* Catering for facilitators and participants

* Internet connection

* VPN to keep our work safe and secure

The workshops will be held in three different provinces with each following month from the event set for compiling information, documenting, and sharing reports.

Through each workshop, LGBTQIA+ elders will also receive food hampers to relieve the burden and strain caused by the covid-19 pandemic and other factors that exist in the community which further cause the elderly to be excluded from life-saving programs.

(What's next?)-

Total Together is a program where we will require a purchase of land in a community with people who have demonstrated tolerance towards the LGBTQIA+ community and construct a safe home for the elders.

Within the facility, we will have a small basic clinic and other important services.

To build up to that we are therefore commencing with the workshops, training, and sensitizations of already existing facilities which will affect a positive outlook towards the LGBTQIA+ community.

The workshops are of greater importance to the success of our journey as they will also be held online with other facilities in the world, we intend to have a world where all people enjoy their Human rights and receive appropriate services for a dignified existence.

It is noted through intense research that LGBTQIA+ elders are suffering in and out of old age homes and most are forced back into the closet just to receive proper services.

As such the movement to bring change in the world for LGBTQIA+ seniors is only possible if we are Total Together.

To learn about this program, kindly visit https://www.totaltogether.org for more information.