Rainbow Connections: maintaining connections with LGBT+ people living with dementia.

Determinants of Health

The Rainbow Connections project involved co-designing resources to support LGBTQ+ volunteer visitors connect with LGBTQ+ people living with dementia. A co-design group of volunteer visitors and a reference group which included LGBTQ+ people living with dementia, developed diverse resources which not only aimed to build capacity of volunteer visitors but also increase community awareness and address stigma of the broader community around LGBTQ+ older people living with dementia.

Rainbow Connections is led by Dr Louisa Smith and part of her ongoing research with LGBTQ+ people living with dementia.’

Challenge

LGBTQ+ older people have experienced lifetimes of systemic, structural and personal discrimination, including in the health and social care systems. This means that if an LGBTQ+ person acquires dementia, they are more likely to be socially isolated and less likely to access services. The Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) aims to bridge this gap, by supporting volunteer visitors to visit socially isolated LGBTQ+ older people. While volunteer's visitors were committed, they were deeply challenged when someone they visited had dementia – often stopping visiting all together.

Solution

This community led project, funded by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation, co-designed resources to support volunteer visitors to increase their capacity around visiting an LGBTQ+ person living with dementia. The co-design group decided to develop a series of cheat sheets, a visitor’s guidebook and a Community of Practice. They also wanted to make LGBTQ+ people living with dementia more visible to LGBTQ+ communities and the broader community. To this end, a photographic exhibition shares the stories and experiences of four LGBTQ+ people living with dementia and their friends.

Impact

The research is now being embedded into the national Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme training and resource offerings. "Rainbow Connections: LGBTQ+ people living with dementia and their peers" is currently running from August 3 to 27 October 2024 at Deakin University's Burwood Campus, inspired by our research. The exhibition highlights the unique experience of LGBTQ+ people living with dementia and the crucial connections formed through the Aged Care Visitors Scheme.