Back in the closet: Third of care home staff have had no LGBT+ awareness training

There is thought to be around a million people over the age of 55 who identify as LGBT+, yet a new poll shows a lot more needs to be done to make care homes inclusive, with over a third of staff having had no LGBT awareness training.

The survey by 2,803 care home owners, managers and care workers by the leading care home reviews site, carehome.co.uk, found 35 per cent of care home staff had received no specialist training to cater for the needs of LGBT+ residents.

In the same survey, they found one in 10 staff had witnessed their LGBT+ residents experiencing prejudice, spelling out the need for a better level of awareness amongst staff to tackle any issues that arise.

A spokesperson for carehome.co.uk said: “A care home should be a place where you feel safe and cared for and where you can truly be yourself in your own home. It is extremely sad that some LGBT+ residents are being stigmatized for being ‘different’.

“We would like to see more care homes being actively inclusive and investing in specialist LGBT+ training for their staff so that everyone feels equally valued.

“Care homes need to be proactive and make it obvious to LGBT residents it is safe for them to be open about their sexuality. This can range from asking someone if they have a partner rather than husband or wife, to ensuring there are joint rooms for couples from all relationships, to organising large scale events in the community like ‘Silver Pride’.”

People who have been 'out' all their lives feel they have to go back into the closet

Homophobia can be a real problem in care homes as older people often have entrenched views and grew up in times when it was illegal to be gay, with homosexuality only being decriminalised in 1967. In many care homes, people who have been 'out' all their lives suddenly feel they have to hide their sexuality and keep it a secret. Older transgender people can also face considerable prejudice and will have extra needs in terms of their personal care, such as the need to shave, catheterise or find appropriate gender clothing in the right size.

Natalie Lamoon, manager of Alexander House care home in Dover, has seen this for herself. “I have cared for individuals in different care settings, whom have been very guarded regarding their sexuality and gender identification, only since moving into the care home. These individuals had been very well known in the community but were afraid to be themselves within the care setting in case people treated them differently which was extremely sad,” she said.

With Stonewall estimating that there are over a million people aged 55 and over, who identify as LGBT+, it’s time to get the necessary training for care home staff in place so they can provide even more personalised, compassionate care.

Some care providers are leading the way in being truly inclusive. Belong care villages, are part of this small minority of residential care settings which are celebrating diversity.

They are tackling prejudice head on by hosting LGBT+ reminiscence events, attending Pride marches and even holding their own Silver Pride.

Stacey McCann, chief operating officer of care provider Belong which runs seven care villages in the north of England, says: “Belong has made great strides in proactively embracing the LGBT+ community in recent years through events and initiatives, including hosting regular LGBT+ events for older people, such as Silver Rainbows reminiscence sessions and Crewe’s first ever Silver Pride event. This extends to supporting residents to attend Pride events in the wider community.

“As a values-based organisation, committed to equality and promoting diversity, Belong actively seeks to create environments that are counteractive to prejudice, and where people can be comfortable expressing who they are. Part of this involves communicating Belong’s inclusive values widely, including with signage.”

Belong has also invested in specialist training for its staff. Ms McCann added: “Many people living in a care setting who identify as LGBT+ would have found it much more difficult to express who they were when growing up than they would today, and some may still find it difficult as a result. When moving into a care setting, some may have worries because of prejudice they experienced in the past. The training covers how to identify if people have such concerns and how to support them emotionally if they are.”

'I can’t imagine living somewhere where I felt the need to hide who I am'

Jane Chadbond, aged 59, who lives at Belong Wigan, has been involved with some of these LGBT events. She says: “I can’t imagine living somewhere where I felt the need to hide who I am. On the contrary, I feel at home at Belong, I’ve never experienced any discrimination or prejudice, and other LGBT people in my life feel comfortable visiting, which is very important to me. I think this is partly due to the staff clearly expressing their commitment to equality and supporting LGBT people, including helping me to attend Pride events in Wigan and Manchester.”

Opening Doors London, the largest provider of services for LGBT+ people over 50 in the UK, has created a Pride in Care quality standard to address the problem and help reduce any potential fears or misperceptions of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia within care and support services delivered to older LGBT+ people.

The award is attained through a short, step-by-step, self-assessment process, including policy reviews, staff surveys and internal training supported by ongoing consultancy advice from their team of specialist LGBT+ advisers. Final assessments are carried out by trained LGBT+ community ambassadors who visit the care home.

Alice Wallace, director of Opening Doors London, said: “Our own survey carried out as part of the Pride in Care quality standard has resulted in very similar findings. For example a third of staff didn’t think knowing a person was LGBT+ was at all relevant to providing personalised care and almost 10 per cent said they did not feel responsible for providing care and support to LGBT+ people and most worryingly, while 15 per cent of care staff had heard people make negative or hostile remarks about LGBT+ people at work there was a lack of clarity of what to do in those situations.”