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Review
. 2020 May 29;17(11):3861.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113861.

Are Services Inclusive? A Review of the Experiences of Older GSD Women in Accessing Health, Social and Aged Care Services

Tinashe Dune  1   2 , Jacqueline Ullman  3 , Tania Ferfolja  3 , Jack Thepsourinthone  2 , Shirali Garga  1 , Zelalem Mengesha  1
Affiliations
Review

Are Services Inclusive? A Review of the Experiences of Older GSD Women in Accessing Health, Social and Aged Care Services

Tinashe Dune et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The review aimed to examine the views and experiences of ageing gender and sexually diverse (GSD) women-a triple minority in relation to their age, gender and sexual orientation-in accessing health, social and aged care services. Eighteen peer reviewed articles identified from seven electronic databases in health and social sciences were evaluated according to predefined criteria and a thematic review methodology drawing upon socio-ecological theory was used to analyse and interpret the findings. Four major themes were identified from the analysis: "The Dilemma of Disclosure", "Belonging/Connection", "Inclusiveness of Aged Care" and "Other Barriers to Access Care". In the dilemma of disclosure, older GSD women consider factors such as previous experiences, relationship with the provider and anticipated duration of stay with the provider before disclosing their sexual identifies. The review also revealed that aged care services lack inclusiveness in their policies, advertising materials, aged care spaces and provider knowledge and attitude to provide sensitive and appropriate care to GSD women. Overall, older GSD women experience multiple and multilevel challenges when accessing health, aged and social services and interventions are needed at all levels of the socio-ecological arena to improve their access and quality of care.

Keywords: LGBTIQ; aged care; gender and sexually diverse; health care; social care; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Article selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A socio-ecological analysis of the experiences of gender and sexually diverse (GSD) women accessing health, social and aged care services.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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