Last month, Eyal Feldman, the NY-based founder of Boy Butter products, swam across Israel's six-mile (10km) Sea of Galilee, the largest body of water in the country, to raise money for two charities, the Jewish Home for the Aging and SAGE (Seniors Active in a Gay Environment). Last Wednesday, Aug. 11, Eyal presented a check for $1,750 to SAGE's Executive Director Michael Adams.
"Despite advances in LGBT civil rights, many senior care providers never stop to consider that their older clients may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) - and even those who do may not know how to provide services in culturally-sensitive ways. As a result, LGBT seniors often avoid seeking needed services out of fear of discrimination. The tendency for LGBT seniors to go "back in the closet" is particularly pronounced in situations where they are most vulnerable - such as when accessing home health care or residing in assisted living or residential care facilities. One study indicated that LGBT seniors may be as much as five times less likely to access needed health and social services because of their fear of discrimination from the very people who should be helping them.
This type of social isolation has an enormous impact in the health and well-being of LGBT seniors. With LGBT seniors twice as likely to live alone than heterosexual seniors, more than four times as likely to have no children, the informal caregiving support we assume is in place for older adults may not be there for LGBT elders."
For more information on SAGE or to make a donation, please visit www.sageusa.org
No comments:
Post a Comment