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January 03, 2008

Study: Gay Seniors Rely on Friends While Ill

More than two thirds of older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults say they have provided care to one or more people in the past five years, according to a study published in the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services.

Those who were helped were suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, muscular/skeletal illnesses, cardiovascular disease, or other afflictions associated with aging, according to the Rockway Institute. Thirty-eight percent of the survey participants reported to have received care within the past five years from people who weren't health care professionals. Of the group who received help, 76% said that they had also assisted others in their time of need.

The sample comprised 199 LGB adults ages 40–85 who were located through elder care agencies in New York City and Los Angeles.

“These results provide a glimpse of the social networks urban LGB seniors have established to cope with homophobia in their communities, rejection from their families, exclusion from the financial benefits of marriage, and in most cases, absence of children to take care of them in old age,” said Robert-Jay Green, executive director of the Rockway Institute. “Some social theorists have even referred to these peer networks as ‘families of choice’ because of the closeness and interconnected reciprocity of care involved. Thus, the results of the current study refute the old stereotype that LGB people are destined for empty lives and lonely deaths as they age. Indeed, these findings reveal the opposite -- a remarkable ‘culture of care’ among LGB seniors.”

Participants were asked about their history of giving and receiving care. They were also asked about their perceptions of the burdens and benefits of caregiving in addition to questions concerning homosexuality, stress, and the state of their mental and physical health. (The Advocate) 

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