11.15.2024 Juanita
Helping to raise awareness
What is Pride Month?
Countries around the world unite to celebrate Pride Month every June as an important opportunity to honour the resilience, diversity, and remarkable accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community.
Pride Month is also about acceptance and equality, as well as an opportunity to educate others about LGBTQ+ history and raise awareness of the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community.
Pride month serves as a reminder of the harmful impact of homophobia, both historically and in today's society. It's also about being proud of who you are, no matter who you love while advocating for a more inclusive and understanding society.
In honour of #PrideMonth, Person Centred Software addresses the importance of recognising and celebrating Pride Month in adult social care settings. They also discuss how their digital social care record system, mCare, plays a vital role in helping care organisations gain deeper insights into the unique needs and preferences of the individuals under their care, which enables care workers to provide a more personalised and person-centred approach to delivering care.
The Sexual Offences Act decriminalised private homosexual acts between men aged over 21 in England and Wales in 1967. The law was not changed in Scotland until 1980 or Northern Ireland until 1982. This means that many people living in care homes, particularly those from older generations, were brought up in an era when homosexuality was illegal.
Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, has highlighted that many older LGBTQ+ people still face the impact of subsequent or ongoing discrimination despite improvements in equality and the legal status of LGBTQ+ communities in recent decades.
These experiences can still have a lasting impact on older LGBTQ+ people today, so people providing care and support must understand these issues. Care workers should be confident in supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in all aspects of their lives, including coming out, personal relationships, support networks, and legal rights.
LGBTQ+ facts and figures
The Centre for Aging Better, an independent charitable foundation, reviewed the 2021 Census and summarised that:
- Almost five times as many people aged 45 - 64 (294,000) identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or "other" sexual orientation" (which includes pansexual and asexual, for example) – (LGB+) compared to people aged 65 or over (60,000).
- And 3.5% of people aged 35-44 (258,00), compared to only 1.6% of people aged 55-64 (113,00), identified as LGB+.
- Similarly, both the numbers and percentages of people who stated that their gender identity was different from the sex registered at birth decreased with age – twice as many people aged 35 to 44 as people aged 55 to 64 identified as trans.
The data above indicates that over the next decade, diversity in sexual orientation among older people, both of pre and post-state pension age, is set to increase rapidly.
It's fantastic to see more older individuals embracing their LGBTQ+ identity. This gradual shift is a positive step towards creating a more inclusive and supportive society for everyone.
However, even in today's society, many individuals residing in care homes still fear discrimination and experience social stigma due to their sexual orientation. This fear often leads them to keep their sexual identity private, which can have implications for their emotional wellbeing and mental health. By acknowledging and addressing these challenges, care providers can create an environment where everyone feels respected, understood, and supported.
The importance of celebrating Pride Month in adult social care settings
Pride month continues to be incredibly important as it provides a valuable opportunity for individuals to unite, share their personal experiences, and break the silence surrounding the ongoing challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. This celebration plays a vital role in raising awareness, and it is also a reminder of the progress made in promoting equality and acceptance while shedding light on the remaining work that needs to be addressed to create a more inclusive and equitable society for all.
Celebrating Pride Month in adult social care settings is a wonderful opportunity to promote love, acceptance, and equality for all. It's a great way to support the LGBTQ+ community and promote inclusivity and diversity. This inclusive approach ensures that all individuals, including those from the LGBTQ+ community, feel safe, valued, accepted, and empowered to live without fear of judgment.
The importance of providing a person-centred approach to care
It's important to recognise that older LGBTQ+ individuals may face specific inequalities and challenges. Care workers must understand these issues to provide the most effective person-centred care and support to each individual under their care.
The fundamental goal of a person-centred approach is to ensure that the views, needs and wellbeing of all individuals receiving care are listened to and taken into account. Each person has their own identity, wishes, needs, choices, beliefs and values. A 'one size fits all' doesn't work when providing care and support.
This is where mCare comes in. mCare supports care providers in delivering more responsive and personalised care and offers various features designed to enhance the delivery of person-centred care.
For example, mCare's 'Who I Am' feature helps care organisations gain deeper insights into the unique needs and preferences of the individuals they care for. It also enables care teams to create a person-centred document of each individual under their care. These documents contain personalised information such as:
- What's important to the individual
- A care plan summary
- Wishes for future care
The 'Who I Am' feature allows care teams to share important information about an individual's routines, life stories, and wishes with health and care professionals via mCare. Personalised routines are essential when caring for people in a care home, as they help maintain their daily functions and reduce anxiety.
The 'Who I Am' feature ultimately contributes to a more holistic and tailored approach to care, improving the quality of life for each person in care.
Click here to find out more about mCare, and its features.
We want to create compelling stories about how care homes are celebrating Pride this month
Is your care home celebrating Pride Month?
If so, we would love to hear from you. Whether you're hosting a party, holding special discussions, doing art projects, or engaging in other meaningful activities to honour Pride Month, we want to know how you marked this event!
If you're celebrating Pride Month in your care home, check out all our fun activities on our Oomph! On-Demand wellbeing and activities platform
Get ready for a variety of Pride-themed activities, including quizzes, Pictionary, bingo, shows, art, and activity books! If you're celebrating Pride, there are plenty of fun activities for you.
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Click here to learn more and access all the activities!
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