As many approach their later years, fears about the development of Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia may become more realistic — even though many may know little about the actual impact of those conditions. One local group that advocates for LGBT seniors is seeking to foster a deeper understanding of the conditions the mind goes through as it ages — and how to best confront these conditions, particularly as a member of the LGBT community.
The LGBT Elder Initiative will host “The Aging Mind 101” April 20 at The Church of St. Luke and The Epiphany, 330 S. 13th St. The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be served starting at 11:30 a.m., followed by the event.
The discussion, part of LGBTEI’s Conversations series, will focus on the aging mind from medical, psychosocial and caregiving vantage points.
“One of the issues everyone faces as they age is cognitive impairment, and we hear about Alzheimer’s or dementia, but most people don’t really understand what those terms mean,” said LGBTEI co-chair Heshie Zinman. “We have a general image of these terms but the issues involved are much more complicated.”
Zinman said the event fits well with LGBTEI’s overarching mission.
“Information is power. We’re trying to create a movement and, to be a movement, people need to have the information. That’s what we’re trying to do,” he said. “We do that through our website, through our Conversations, through our cultural-competency training. And, with this, this is really the first time anyone’s talked about aging-mind issues to our community. We’re really fortunate to have a lot of great professionals and authorities on this for our first Conversation about this.”
The organization brought on partners from the Alzheimer’s Association, Penn Memory Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Mazzoni Center to lead participants through the many aspects of the aging mind.
Judy Morrissey, Mazzoni’s director of behavioral health services, said this and other challenges facing the aging community are often not adequately addressed by the LGBT and provider communities.
“We need to show a commitment to the full spectrum of the life span,” she said. “Oftentimes, we focus on youth and, as a result, sometimes the issues around aging don’t get as much attention as they should.”
Morrissey will focus on the psychosocial issues involved with the aging mind, including depression, isolation and the effects of loss.
The caregiving portion of the discussion will include remarks from individual caregivers, who will testify to their experience caring for someone with cognitive impairment — an issue Zinman said is of particular relevance to the LGBT community.
“LGBT people often have families of choice,” he said. “In heterosexual life, you generally have children taking care of parents as they age, but LGBT folks don’t necessarily have that support; we usually rely on families of choice or friends for caregiving. So we need to be talking and thinking about what we need to know about caregiving, the stresses that that involves and how best to deal with it.”
Participants will have the chance to take a short caregiving-needs survey that LGBTEI will use to gather information about the community’s concepts of and approaches to caregiving to further inform LGBTs about the process.
Zinman said organizers are also hoping the event will generate interest in the formation of a caregivers’ support group.
He said he anticipates the event will draw a diverse group of community members and allies.
“We have this ‘101’ component, so there may be people who know very little about the issues and who want to be informed, and then probably people caring for people with aging-mind issues and maybe service providers who are going to be dealing with LGBT folks who are aging,” Zinman said. “I think it’ll be a broad range of folks who are interested in learning about talking about these issues.”
Morrissey said the forum could have benefits both for the individuals involved and the community.
“We want people to be able to support those around them and be able to recognize when someone needs help,” she said. “But we also want people to look at themselves in their own lives, as caregivers or otherwise, and be able to reach out and access the resources they need.”
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