Social Isolation Among LGBT Older Adults: Lessons Learned From a Pilot Friendly-Caller Program

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults face heightened risks of social isolation, given decades of discrimination. Research on telephone buddy programs with non-LGBT participants have proved predominantly unsuccessful at addressing social isolation and have found the greatest success with same-age matches. However, evidence suggests that LGBT adults may actually benefit from telephone buddy programs and in ways uniquely different from other groups. This article shares lessons learned from 30 participants across a 12-month pilot program that matched LGBT older adults to both LGBT and non-LGBT volunteer callers of various ages. One-third of participants identified as African American or Black. This project employed community-based participatory action research to identify, execute, and evaluate the program. Data includes information from questionnaires and telephone interviews prior to and during the program. In contrast to other research, data here revealed strong support for intergenerational matches. LGBT older adults of color especially benefited from program referrals and matches with/from LGBT adults of color, regardless of age. While the project aimed to capture two groups (LGBT older adults experiencing isolation and volunteer callers), the project revealed a third group: LGBT adults at risk of social isolation. This third group usually emerged among the “volunteer” callers but also identified concerns and risk factors for social isolation. The program also revealed unexpected benefits to both LGBT and non-LGBT volunteers, including less loneliness and a stronger sense of community. This article concludes with recommendations for developing similar programs to reduce social isolation in the LGBT community.

Social Support and Social Networks among LGBT Older Adults in Rural Southern Appalachia

“…Finally, AAAs should coordinate LGBT-specific programming-both in-house within senior centers and via technology (i.e., Internet, phone, video webconferencing). One example of specific programming would be a Friendly-Caller program to help address social isolation in LGBT older adults (Perone et al, 2019). An important policy implication would be advocacy for continued Older Americans Act funding, because of the centrality of this funding for the network of services for older adults-and especially older adults in rural areas, given their relative scarcity of resources.…”

Kesendirian (Solitude) sebagai Pengalaman Positif di Masa Pembatasan Sosial

“…Seseorang dan suatu kelompok sosial dapat terisolasi dari dunia karena secara geografis tempat tinggal mereka terpencil atau tidak mudah diakses (Elsera, 2019). Seseorang juga dapat terkucil secara sosial karena identitas gender, seksualitas, dan usia (Hoppmann et al, 2021;Perone et al, 2019). Orang-orang atau kelompok tertentu yang tidak punya akses pada kekuasaan dan sumber daya juga rentan mengalami kesendirian secara sosial, politik, dan ekonomi.…”

Sextech Use as a Potential Mental Health Reprieve: The Role of Anxiety, Depression, and Loneliness in Seeking Sex Online

“…Furthermore, bisexual individuals present with higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to lesbian and gay individuals [22,23]. With respect to loneliness among LGB individuals, connection to the LGB community is negatively associated with loneliness [24] and LGB individuals in rural areas and elderly LGB people are more likely to experience loneliness as they are less likely to have access to LGB communities [25,26]. These consistent patterns of results suggest that large-scale investigations of mental health should certainly target anxiety and depression but would be ineffective without also considering loneliness as an additional domain of mental health or as an exacerbating contributor to impaired mental health.…”