Honors Department, 1877University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2021 Jun;38(6):590-595. doi: 10.1177/1049909120978742. Epub 2020 Dec 3.
Hospice and palliative care are in the beginning stages of providing inclusive care to older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) patients. This inclusivity is exceedingly more pressing given the growing population of out and aging LGBTQ individuals. Hospice and palliative literature recognizes that spirituality and religion can be fraught topics for LGBTQ patients. A few resources are available to help providers give more inclusive care. Few in hospice and palliative care, however, explicitly outline the direct connection for LGBTQ elders between their sexuality and their spiritual lives. 16 LGBTQ individuals born before 1964 were interviewed in the Colorado Front Range. Keeping with the tradition of critical theory, participants were asked "is there a connection for you between your sexuality and your spirituality? if so, what?" The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative conceptual content analysis method. All 16 participants responded that there was a connection for them. The participants expanded on this connection using five themes in their answers: the sexual act itself is spiritual; their authentic LGBTQ journey as spiritual; love/attraction is spiritual; spirituality and sexuality are inseparable; and finally, noting the ineffability of the sexuality-spirituality connection.
临终关怀和姑息治疗才刚刚开始为老年同性恋、双性恋、变性、跨性别、酷儿（LGBTQ）患者提供包容的护理。鉴于越来越多的出柜和老龄化的 LGBTQ 个体，这种包容性更加紧迫。临终关怀和姑息治疗文献认识到，灵性和宗教对于 LGBTQ 患者来说可能是一个棘手的话题。有一些资源可以帮助提供者提供更具包容性的护理。然而，临终关怀和姑息治疗领域很少有人明确概述 LGBTQ 老年人的性取向和他们的精神生活之间的直接联系。在科罗拉多落基山脉采访了 16 名 1964 年前出生的 LGBTQ 个体。为了遵循批判理论的传统，参与者被问到“你的性取向和你的灵性之间是否存在联系？如果有，是什么？”使用定性概念内容分析方法对访谈进行了分析。所有 16 名参与者都回答说，他们之间存在联系。参与者在回答中使用了五个主题来扩展这种联系：性行为本身就是精神的；他们作为 LGBTQ 的真实旅程是精神的；爱/吸引力是精神的；灵性和性不可分割；最后，指出性-灵性联系的不可言喻性。
