vlscs.ca

We contacted over 60 organizations for interviews and interviewed 34 policy makers and service providers. We found:

We also surveyed of lesbian living in the Greater Victoria area, including some of the Gulf Islands. The 100 respondents ranged in age from 31 to 80, with an average age of 52. Just under half the respondents were aged 50-59; slightly more than one-third were aged 30-49; and one-fifth were 60 and older. Almost 90 percent of the respondents were white. Almost two-thirds claimed the identity "lesbian," while slightly more than one-tenth claimed "gay" or "queer." Older respondents were more likely to claim "lesbian" than younger respondents.

Over three-quarters of the respondents were in a relationship. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents do not have children, and nearly two-thirds of the women in partnerships do not have partners with children. Women aged 50-59 were the most likely, and women aged 30-49 the least likely, to have children.

When asked to rate the degree to which lesbians expected to receive support from certain sources when they are old, respondents said:

We also asked lesbians to tell us what they worry about when they think of growing old. They said:

Finally, we wanted to determine how much lesbians currently use and estimate they will use seniors-related services. Services that were frequently used include:

Lesbians are everywhere in the Greater Victoria area – even in Sooke! Policy makers and service providers are generally aware that lesbians are part of their clientele but neither policies nor training protocols include anything about lesbian needs. It appears that staff’s behaviour towards lesbian clients is either positive or neutral, but volunteers’ and other clients’ behaviour towards lesbians is more likely to need improvement or be neutral. Policy makers and service providers should amend policies and training protocols to address lesbian needs and to facilitate appropriate behaviour of volunteers and other clients towards lesbians.

We do not have extensive information on the experiences, current needs, and projected needs of senior lesbians (those 60 years of age and older). We do, however, have good information about the experiences and projected needs of lesbians who will soon be seniors (those between 50 and 59 years old) and adequate information about those who are between 30 and 49 years old. We need to get more information about senior lesbians, particularly since they are more likely to have lived in the closet and hence have different worldviews and expectations than lesbians who are currently 50 to 59 years old.

The lesbians we do know about are likely to be in a relationship and not have children. When lesbians get old, they expect to get help from family members, particularly partners and children, friends, and social service programs. The older lesbians are, the more sources of help they expect to access. Lesbians currently use and expect to increase their usage of physician, pharmacy, and other health care provider services, as well as physical fitness facilities. It is therefore important that health and social service policy makers and providers are aware of and respond appropriately to senior lesbians’ needs.

Lesbians’ primary worry about growing old is lack of financial resources. The next most frequent worries are lack of mobility and agility, isolation, discrimination, and poor health. Although these worries are not substantially different from those of non-lesbian women, homophobia and heterosexism confound these issues.

Part of increasing awareness of senior lesbian needs is increasing lesbian visibility. We therefore recommend that service providers include lesbian-positive art, notices, etc., in their facilities. We also recommend that VLSCS assume a higher profile and become a valued senior-serving resource in the Greater Victoria area.

Suggested Next Step	Number of Volunteers
Survey members to learn what social activities they would like VLSCS to sponsor	1
Conduct VLSCS social events	3
Create and monitor the answering machine for a 24-hour VLSCS telephone line	1
Telephone response to 24-hour VLSCS telephone line	1
Conduct outreach in the lesbian community	0
Continue interviewing policy makers and service providers	1
VLSCS offers training to service providers	0
VLSCS continues to apply for grants	1
Volunteer coordination of projects resulting from funding	1
Join existing networks of senior-serving agencies and organizations	0
Advertise VLSCS and get on other agencies’ mailing lists	0
Volunteer to work with senior lesbians	4
Obtain a social work intern through the University of Victoria	1
Work with VIHA to create assisted housing for lesbians	2
Develop clusters of senior lesbians living together with no care component	1
Educate the health care community about lesbian issues and needs	2
Update VLSCS communications: - web site - brochure - poster - information pack - newsletter	2 0 0 1 2
Create a VLSCS speaker’s bureau	0
Write and submit articles to medical, nursing, and social work journals	2
Present information about the project at conferences	1
Link VLSCS with US organizations, such as OLOC (Older Lesbians Organizing for Change) and SAGE (Seniors Aging in a Gay Environment)	0
Publicize the project and VLSCS with local media (CBC, the New VI, Times Colonist)	2

Community Care Inclusion Project

Executive Summary