Research Suggests LGBTQ Seniors Dying of Loneliness

Research has demonstrated that social isolation heightens people's risk of heart disease, dementia, memory loss, and premature death, reports the Seattle Times . The University of Washington's (UW) first national longitudinal study of aging members of the LGBTQ community indicates isolation is amplified in this demographic. UW Professor Karen Fredriksen Goldsen suggests those who relocate to a retirement or assisted living community may revert to hiding their sexual orientation. Her survey spent the past decade polling 2,450 LGBTQ people between the ages of 50 and 102 on an every-other-year basis, which revealed that older, married LGBTQ adults enjoy better physical and mental health, more social support, and greater financial resources than singles. Later analysis determined more than 55 percent of LGBTQ seniors live alone, and 64 percent have suffered discrimination or been victimized three times in their lives. Fredriksen Goldsen has founded a non-profit LGBTQ senior community called the GenPride Center to alleviate social isolation. "I want to help build a senior-friendly Seattle," she says. "It's not just LGBTQ, it's all seniors. We have to think about cross-generational interventions and solutions, and demonstrate that seniors are an important resource."