Data Collection / Research

Aging as LGBT: Two Stories

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by Heron Greenesmith. This post originally appeared on the Justice in Aging blog.

Tina and Jackie were born in the same town in 1947. Despite similar beginnings, their lives take very different turns. In 1967, Tina meets Frank. And Jackie meets Frances. As a same-sex couple, Jackie and Frances couldn’t marry, were denied spousal benefits, and experienced a lifetime of discrimination and lost wages. Fast forward to today, and Jackie, like so many other older adults, struggles with financial insecurity, social isolation, and overall lack of health and well-being, simply because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).

Unfortunately, Jackie’s story.... Read More

             

Healthy Aging Starts with a Healthy Mouth, and Health Equity Starts with Us

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Last week, the Diverse Elders Coalition traveled to Alexandria, VA for the Oral Health America Medicare Symposium. Advocates, policymakers, and providers convened for this Symposium to discuss how to get a dental benefit included in Medicare. A recent study found that 52% of older adults are unaware that Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental care – maybe you didn’t know that, either!

Given how important oral health is to overall health – if you can’t chew or swallow food, or if you are living with chronic pain from infection or gum disease, your overall health is certainly impacted! – it is shocking that once an elder turns 65, they are their own for.... Read More

             

What do South Asian Elders in NYC Want?

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As one of the only non-profits in New York city serving Indian, Pakistani, Indo-Caribbean, and Bangladeshi older adults, India Home recently undertook a survey of Bangladeshi elders the organization serves at its Desi Senior Center in Jamaica in order to gain an objective understanding of their needs. In the past the organization has commissioned reports such as the Attitudes to American Health Care among Elderly South Asians, a 2010 study, where doctors from Brown University conducted research with participants from India Home’s centers to understand the reliance of elderly South Asians on non-Western or alternative forms of medicine such as ayurveda or homeopathy as their preferred first line of defense against illness.

In this tradition of.... Read More

             

TAKE ACTION: Tell the Office of Budget and Management that Diverse Elders Need Disaggregated Data!

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Did you know? Federal agencies (like those that administer education, housing, and employment programs, just to name a few) are NOT required to count detailed data for diverse communities. Instead of asking whether an elder identifies as “Cambodian,” “Vietnamese,” or “Marshallese,” they simply ask whether a person is “Asian.” People who are Puerto Rican, Mexican, or Brazilian are all lumped together as “Latino.” And agencies are not required to ask ANY questions about sexual orientation or gender identity — and efforts are even underway to remove those questions from federal surveys that do ask for that information. This means our communities remain misrepresented, left out of policy and program decisions, and under-funded.

But the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.... Read More

             

Now Trump wants to erase LGBT elders. We say NO!

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donteraselgbt

This post originally appeared on the NHCOA blog.

The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been a cause for concern among many Hispanic older adults and their families. While our attention has been understandably focused on the new administration’s anti-immigrant policies, its efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act, and its proposed cuts for programs seniors rely on, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has quietly taken a step toward erasing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors from a key survey that helps HHS ensure.... Read More

             

Culturally Competent Care for South Asian Seniors in New York City

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India Home, which is an organization that serves South Asian seniors at its five centers in Queens, New York has had success getting its older adult clients to improve their health by using culturally competent methods. The positive change in attitudes toward disease management and healthy eating was brought about through the organization’s ongoing and successful partnership with New York University’s Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH). The Center is the leading institute in the US set up to study Asian American health. India Home’s collaboration with the institute helped facilitate several health projects that used culturally appropriate practices to focus on the health of Bengali seniors at the Desi Senior Center, India Home’s.... Read More

             

Brain Health & Inequality: Reflections on the Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity

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The 2017 Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity brought together a diverse mix of policymakers, thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and practitioners to address the nation’s widening opportunity gap. Tucked between to-be-expected panels on manufacturing and hunger, was a 15 minute talk by Dr. Sarah Enos Watamura, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver and Director of the Child Health & Development Lab, on the biology of adversity. She opened by posing the question: How could a consideration of biology inform policy and practice solutions for moving families from inequality to opportunity?

Dr. Watamura highlighted research by.... Read More

             

NICOA Points to American Indian/Alaska Health Disparities during National Minority Health Month

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This post originally appeared on the NICOA blog.

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American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Elders have long experienced disparities in health and healthcare. A health disparity is a difference in health outcomes from different groups within the population.

Historically, AI/AN communities have had limited access to quality healthcare. One outcome of treaties between AI/AN communities and the federal government is that all federal recognized tribes have a right to healthcare services. The Indian Health Service (IHS)* was created to meet this federal commitment.

Although there are 567 federally recognized tribes to date, there are many more tribes still seeking federal recognition..... Read More

             
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