HUMANistic Caring: An approach for meeting the care needs of Filipino gay and lesbian older persons

ABSTRACT

@#Quality care is a basic human right and a core foundation for a patient's health, recovery, and well-being. In the current Philippine context, gay and lesbian older persons face gender-care disparities in the caring dynamism. Until now, their care needs are not articulated in the country's basic nursing curriculum. Consequently, the care approach is incongruent, biased, and risky. In response to this gender-care disparity, participatory action research (PAR) was used to identify this cohort's care needs and their meaning by developing a nursing care hub called the ‘Gay Care Center’ for older gays and lesbians. This paper focuses on describing (a) the current situation of nursing care among the gay and lesbian older persons; (b) the meaning of care needs from their perspective; and (c) the Gay Care Center's tailored approach and services to meet their care needs. Multiple sources were utilized to collect data focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and observations. Data were then analyzed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis. Findings revealed that caring practices for older gays and lesbians could only be effective, satisfying, and holistic when the meaning of their individual needs are sensitively listened to, understood, and met. This led to the coined term HUMANistic caring, a new approach that emerged as their preferred mode of care. It is recommended that extensive gender-care training be conducted among gerontological nurses, and this be incorporated in the nursing curriculum to ensure that the provision of care is safe, respectful, humane, and just.