[NEW YORK, NY] Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) today released a new data collection guide through its National Resource Center on LGBT Aging to help providers collect the information they need to better understand and serve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Inclusive Questions for Older Adults: A Practical Guide to Collecting Data on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is a comprehensive guide that helps service providers ask questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in a safe and respectful way.
"We created this guide to meet the specific needs of aging providers," said Hilary Meyer, Director of the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging. "We are frequently contacted by service providers who are grappling with how mainstream aging organizations can better collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity. And they want to do so in a way that is culturally competent and respectful. This guide gives them those tools."
Aging services and healthcare providers rely on client data to inform program and service delivery as well as to guide optimal individual service and treatment. However, from federal to local levels, the identities of LGBT older adults are rarely included in population-level research studies, service intake forms or client notes. This lack of data collection across the spectrum of aging policy and programs means that providers often lack the information they need to better understand and serve LGBT eldersand if they want this information, they must collect it themselves.
Relying on research and real-work knowledge and experience, this guide gives providers suggestions on effectively collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity by outlining:
Why collecting data on LGBT older adults is important for service delivery;
How to incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity questions into client forms; and
Helpful suggestions for discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with older clients.
Led by SAGE, the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging is the country's first and only technical assistance resource center aimed at improving the quality of services and supports offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender older adults. Established in 2010 through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging provides training, technical assistance and educational resources to aging providers, LGBT organizations and LGBT older adults. The center is led in partnership with 14 leading organizations from around the country.
The guide is currently available free of charge. To download the guide online, visit lgbtagingcenter.org, or request a free print copy today.
SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York City, SAGE is a national organization that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBT older adults and their caregivers, advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of LGBT older people, and provides training for aging providers and LGBT organizations through its National Resource Center on LGBT Aging. With offices in New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago, SAGE coordinates a growing network of 23 local SAGE affiliates in 16 states and the District of Columbia. Learn more at sageusa.org and lgbtagingcenter.org .