Care Homes Urged to Embrace Transgender Identities in Elderly Care

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Pensioners can transition and be transgender, even if they have lived their entire life as one gender, according to new guidance provided to care homes. The advice, offered by researchers from the University of Kent, is part of a guide titled "Trans & Non-Binary Inclusion," which seeks to ensure that care homes are more inclusive towards older LGBTQ+ individuals.

 

The guide encourages care home staff to recognize the possibility of elderly people identifying as transgender later in life. It urges workers to familiarize themselves with what it means to be trans or non-binary and to respect people's pronouns and chosen names, regardless of what legal documentation might state.

 

However, this guidance, released in August 2024 in collaboration with the University of Surrey and the University of Hertfordshire, has sparked some criticism. A care worker from Somerset, speaking anonymously, expressed concerns about how the guidelines might clash with the beliefs of other residents, their families, or even the staff. "What about other residents or their families, or even care staff, that might have gender-critical beliefs?" the care worker questioned. “We know that those are protected under the Equality Act, so therefore nobody could be ‘made’ to use preferred pronouns.

 

We also have to consider single-sex provisions. A female resident might be sharing some facilities with a trans-identifying male. This could compromise her right to dignity and privacy, but most of all her safety.” The guide has also been criticized for ignoring certain challenges that transgender care home residents face, particularly those with dementia. A 2019 study by the University of Ottawa revealed that transgender people with dementia might forget they had transitioned and revert to identifying with their birth gender.

 

Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, has voiced her opposition to the guide, stating: “This guidance for care homes is a shocking example of the way trans activism harms the most vulnerable in society. By imposing the fictions of gender identity ideology on gender-confused elderly people, it goes against the best interests of residents and staff.”

 

She highlighted concerns about the distress experienced by dementia patients, saying, "The evidence of people with dementia being distressed by changes to their body that they no longer understand, such as breast implants, is deeply upsetting. Rather than offering practical, compassionate advice on how to provide care in these difficult situations, this guide treats vulnerable residents as props in a fantasy of gender affirmation."

 

Despite the criticism, the University of Kent defends its work, explaining that the guide was created with input from older LGBTQ+ individuals and care providers. The university's larger research project, CIRCLE, which received funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research, aims to address the unique challenges faced by older LGBTQ+ individuals in social care.

 

Dr. Jolie Keemink, who contributed to the guide, emphasized that “research shows that the older LGBTQ+ population is expected to rely more heavily on social care than their cis-gender, heterosexual counterparts because they are less likely to have children and more likely to experience a lack of social support."

 

The guide, which includes a poster to indicate a care home’s commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion, will be available online and distributed at the Care Show, the UK's largest social care event, held in Birmingham in October. Dr. Keemink added, “There is an urgent need for improvements with regards to LGBTQ+ inclusion within care homes, and we hope that this guide can play a useful role in this.”

 

Credit: Daily Telegraph 2024-09-23

 

 

 

[JonnyF]

As if being in a care home until your impending demise wasn't bad enough...

[thaibeachlovers]

Unlike ( apparently ) the people involved in this farce, I know people that work in care homes

1/ they are too busy to be worrying about which pronoun a resident may wish to be addressed as.

2/ they are too busy to be worrying about which pronoun a resident may wish to be addressed as.

3/ they are too busy to be worrying about which pronoun a resident may wish to be addressed as.

 

Not many are desperate enough to work in care homes given the work load and the pitiful wages. The ones that do don't need PC wish lists imposed on them making their job even harder.

 

The care workers are the ones that have contact with the inmates, as there might only be a single registered nurse to do the drugs etc.

 

If such a policy were introduced, the care homes will need to increase staff and have more than a basic level of training, which will increase costs for all inmates.

[proton]

They need to be in care homes called mental asylums to keep them away from the normal elderly population.