A best practice model of care for older members of the LGBTQ+ community is being developed in a collaboration between universities, peak bodies, aged care providers, and LGBTQ+ organisations.
It will be trialled in 19 aged care homes before being rolled out across the country.
Wesley Mission Queensland and Amana Living in Western Australia will be trialling the model, which will be the first of its kind in Australia.
The project - titled 'Co-creating rainbow-inclusive care for gender and sexually diverse people in residential aged care' - is being developed by Southern Cross University in conjunction with La Trobe University, University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, and Edith Cowan University.
The research team will engage LGBTQ+ people and other stakeholders - including the Older Persons Advocacy Network, Australian Association of Gerontology, Aged and Community Care Providers Association, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, and GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc - to interview aged care staff and co-design a model for inclusive residential aged care. They will develop guidelines and resources to help providers put the model into practice.
The five-year, $1 million project is being funded by the Federal Government through a Medical Research Future Fund grant. Findings from the trial will be used to refine the model for a national rollout.
Southern Cross University’s Professor Mark Hughes, who is leading the project, said, “The fact that many LGBTQ+ people don’t have adult children to support them in older age is also a concern. Many have close friends who take on that role, but the current residential aged care system does not sufficiently support LGBTQ+ people to stay connected to their friends and communities."
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that inclusive service provision was essential to providing safe, supportive aged care for people from diverse backgrounds.
