Data on local LGBT older adults will be shared with the community at a town-hall meeting this weekend.
For the past 18 months, Public Health Management Corporation has spearheaded a study focusing on the health challenges faced by the LGBT aging community.
The study included a series of focus groups, more than a dozen individual interviews and a survey completed by more than 250 local LGBTs 55 and older.
PHMC has been conducting LGBT-specific research for eight years and has mostly focused on HIV/AIDS, although senior research scientist Dr. Jennifer Lauby wanted to branch out to include other issues.
“We’ve always felt that we wanted to focus on a broader range of health risks in the LGBT community, not just HIV/AIDS,” Lauby said.
PHMC received a grant for $17,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to conduct the project.
The study launched with a Community Advisory Board comprised of members of the older-adult LGBT population and representatives from service agencies.
“They were helpful in suggesting places to find people and give out surveys,” Lauby said.
PHMC also held two open houses at the William Way LGBT Community Center and at its own headquarters.
Lauby was surprised with some of the findings of the research.
“We found out that most people got pretty good health care,” she said. “But there was a concern about loneliness and isolation.”
Lauby said that many participants did not have children or a partner at the time.
“A lot of participants lived alone and were concerned about who would take care of them as they got older,” she said.
The results of the survey and PHMC’s recommendations for improving access to health services will be reviewed in a public town-hall meeting, 2-5 p.m. Oct. 20 at The Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, 330 S. 13th St.
The city’s deputy managing director for aging, Lydia Hérnandez Vélez, will be a guest speaker at the meeting.
For more information, contact Lee Carson at [email protected] or 267-765-2352.
