Social Pathology and Prevention 2020, 6(2):29-41 | DOI: 10.25142/spp.2021.001

INVISIBLE OLDER PEOPLE: LGBTI+

Naděžda Špatenková1, Ivana Olecká2
1 Faculty of Public Policies in Opava, Silesian University in Opava
2 Palacký University Olomouc

LGBT older people are an integral part of the ageing population. Due to the unfavourable social climate, they have faced homophobia, discrimination, ostracism, criminalisation, and psychiatrisation for a significant part of their lives; therefore, they remain highly distrustful, wary and  reserved  to  institutions  providing  social  and  health  services.  As a result of years of negative experience, older LGBTI+ people feel very vulnerable and threatened by disrespect of dignity, inappropriate (ill) treatment or even abuse even in these institutions, which is why they hide their identity and sexual orientation. Yet, older LGBTI+ people are clients of both health and social services, as well. However,  their situation in  health  and  social institutions  has  not  been  adequately  dealt  with in the Czech socio-cultural environment yet, and older LGBTI+ people are the so-called “invisible minority”, “not seen” even by the managers of these facilities, as our research, the results of which we present here, has demonstrated. Setting the quality of services provided and eliminating potential discrimination, however,  requires raising the profile   of the issue and raising awareness among care professionals.

Keywords: + LGBTI, older people, care, health care, social welfare, minority, heterosexuality

Received: April 20, 2021; Revised: June 28, 2021; Accepted: June 28, 2021; Published: December 1, 2021  Show citation

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Špatenková N, Olecká I. INVISIBLE OLDER PEOPLE: LGBTI+. Social Pathology and Prevention. 2020;6(2):29-41. doi: 10.25142/spp.2021.001.
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