Most people think of nursing homes as a place where the elderly line the hallways in their wheelchairs, but…
I have been asked to sit on a committee by a state agency on aging who want LGBT input on developing a policy for nursing homes. I think it is important to have a trans-person on the committee to make sure that our special needs are met.
I can just picture me in a nursing home going around looking for my wig, "Who took my wig?" or "Where's my wig!" But seriously I worry Alzheimers and Dementia how will it effect my transness? Will I remember who I am?
Sex in Geriatrics Sets Hebrew Home Apart in Elderly CareFinally! A place where they realize seniors are human and have the wants and needs as all humans.
Bloomberg
By Bryan Gruley
Jul 23, 2013
The nurse was frantic. She’d just seen two elderly people having sex in a room at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, New York. She asked Daniel A. Reingold, then the home’s executive vice president, what she should do.
“Tiptoe out and close the door so you don’t disturb them,” he told her.
Today, Reingold likes to recount the 19-year-old tale to show why the Hebrew Home broke with industry practice and encouraged sex and intimacy among its elderly residents, including those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
In 1995, the home adopted a four-page policy -- considered the first of its kind -- stating that residents “have the right to seek out and engage in sexual expression,” including “words, gestures, movements or activities which appear motivated by the desire for sexual gratification.”
I have been asked to sit on a committee by a state agency on aging who want LGBT input on developing a policy for nursing homes. I think it is important to have a trans-person on the committee to make sure that our special needs are met.
I can just picture me in a nursing home going around looking for my wig, "Who took my wig?" or "Where's my wig!" But seriously I worry Alzheimers and Dementia how will it effect my transness? Will I remember who I am?
It was after seeing an elderly trans friend in hospice care last year that a group of us over here in the UK founded a charity dedicated to awareness of end-of-life issues with respect to trans people. There is so little practical experience for example of what happens when an aged trans person suffers from dementia that one of the things we are trying to do is work with end-of-life care professionals to ensure a procedure is in place such that any effects on their gender identity or expression are approached with sensitivity.
ReplyDeleteMore here as we develop our work: The Dawn Skinner Fund.