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LGBT OLDER ADULTS, CHOSEN FAMILY, AND CAREGIVING
- Source :
- Journal of Law and Religion. 31:150-168
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2016.
-
Abstract
- In the United States, informal elder care is principally the responsibility of younger relatives. Adult children perform the majority of elder care and non-relatives perform only 14 percent of care. Caregiving in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, community follows a very different pattern that reflects the importance of “chosen family” in the lives of LGBT older adults. Instead of relying on relatives, LGBT older adults largely care for each other. Relatives provide only 11 percent of all elder care. This article explores the high level of caregiving by non-relatives in the LGBT community. It asks what motivates friends, neighbors, and community members to provide care for someone whom the law considers a legal stranger. It also asks what steps policy makers can take to facilitate and encourage this type of caregiving. Finally, it asks what lessons can be learned from LGBT older adults about the nature of both caregiving and community. As the aging population becomes more diverse, aging policies will have to become more inclusive to address the differing needs of various communities, including LGBT older adults. The potential lessons learned from the pattern of elder care in the LGBT community, however, extend far beyond a simple commitment to diversity.
- Subjects :
- Gerontology
Population ageing
030505 public health
media_common.quotation_subject
05 social sciences
Religious studies
050109 social psychology
03 medical and health sciences
Transgender
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Elder care
Lesbian
0305 other medical science
Psychology
Law
Diversity (politics)
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 21633088 and 07480814
- Volume :
- 31
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Law and Religion
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........a028ad6d699b8ccdf4ef5137f96f87e4