Aging Sexual and Gender Minority Veterans Experience of Social Support

Abstract

            The needs of aging sexual and gender minority veterans have not been understood or widely studied. Since the repeal of ‘Don’t ask/Don’t tell” attention to the needs of this minority cohort of veterans has increased. This mixed methods study of a community based population of aging LGBT veterans sought to understand the social support and service acquisition of this cohort. Secondary data analysis provided the foundation for this study.

Overview

The National Institute of Health report (2012), Healthy People 2020 acknowledged the need for research on the health of sexual and gender minorities (SGM) and recent reports from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2011), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and the Joint Commission on Veterans Affairs (2012) have identified research gaps and opportunities for improving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health.

The recent study by Brennan-Ing, Seidel, Larson, and Karpiak (2014) identified significant gaps in the literature on the service needs of SGM individuals and offered important population based information on social care networks (SCN) and social support (SS) of the SGM population. Knowledge about social care networks, social support, and quality of life indicators of SGM veterans are of vital importance. This study aimed to address this gap by reporting on the experience of SGM veterans social care networks from a community based sample recruited from SGM community center in a large Midwestern city. Specifically, this study examined the social service needs of this aging veteran population including those who are HIV positive and how social care networks impact the social support perception of SGM veterans. In addition, we examined how the experiences of social support, affect SGM veterans self-reported health related issues including HIV. Previous studies by Brennan- Ing et al., (2014) found many SGM older adults do not rely on SGM focused organizations to meet their needs and most rely on mainstream providers. This study reviewed this trend for SGM veterans and to what extent VHA services were utilized.

Results suggest SGM aging veterans are at high risk for social isolation, low social support, and limited access to community or VA services. Implications indicate the need for collaborative partnerships between community based organizations and VA services to best meet the needs of this vulnerable and somewhat invisible aging veteran cohort.