Serving All Who Served: Piloting an Online Tool to Support Cultural Competency with LGBT U.S. Military Veterans in Long-Term Care

Abstract

Objective: Given health disparities between lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and non-LGBT older adults, ensuring that the care provided in long-term care (LTC) settings is both supportive and sensitive to their unique needs and challenges is essential. This has become a matter of increasing priority in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which in recent years has stated its mission to "serve all who served," including LGBT Veterans. With this in mind, we piloted an online training tool designed to enhance the LGBT cultural competence of interdisciplinary staff working in geriatric extended care units.

Method: Interdisciplinary LTC staff participated in an online training module that contained information on unique factors that affect the lives of older LGBT Veterans, and provided considerations and strategies to assist staff in working with them.

Results: Following participation in the training, staff showed a significant increase in knowledge about LGBT Veterans, but not in skills or attitudes.

Conclusions: Online-based LGBT cultural-competency training is useful in providing LTC staff with foundational knowledge that can help them work more competently with LGBT residents.

Clinical implications: LTC facilities can develop brief yet effective cultural competency trainings that increase the visibility of LGBT concerns in order to enhance clinical care.

Keywords: LGBT; Sexual orientation; cultural competency; gender identity; staff training.