Health Fair Highlights Services for Elderly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Residents of New York City

WHAT:    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older adults often have unmet health needs because they don’t receive care that is tailored to their unique circumstances. As they age, LGBT people are generally at greater risk of depression, certain cancers, and complications related to HIV than their heterosexual peers. A new project led by Jeffrey Kwong, DNP, ANP-BC, director of the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program at Columbia University School of Nursing, is working to eliminate health disparities in the LGBT population in New York City.

As the project director of the newly established Elder LGBT Interprofessional Care Program (e-linc), Kwong secured a $1.5 million cooperative agreement from Health Resources and Service Administration  (HRSA) to help address common medical and mental health needs of the aging LGBT adult population. Walter Bockting, PhD, professor of medical psychology in psychiatry and nursing at Columbia Nursing, is associate director of the project.

In partnership with SAGE (Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders), teams that include nurse practitioners, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists will provide culturally competent care to LGBT older adults in New York City.

“Many times older LGBT people remain a silent population because they don’t bring up their sexuality or talk about sex with their health providers,” says Kwong. “Our teams of health professionals are developing a comprehensive health assessment program that will help us identify treatment needs that might otherwise go unnoticed.”

FREE SCREENINGS AT E-LINC HEALTH FAIR

Elderly LGBT adults will get free screenings for blood pressure, oral health, mental health, HIV, and Hepatitis C at a health fair to kick off the e-linc program.

WHEN:    Wednesday, January 21, 1:00pm to 4:00pm 

WHERE: SAGE Center

   305 Seventh Ave, 15th floor

   New York, New York  

PRESS AVAILABILITY

Interviews opportunities during the health fair with experts including:

• Jeffrey Kwong, DNP, ANP-BC, e-linc project director and director of the adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner program at Columbia Nursing
• Walter Bockting, PhD, professor of medical psychology at Columbia Nursing
• Sigrid Gabler, PhD, ANP-BC, e-linc nurse practitioner and instructor at Columbia Nursing
• Thomas Weber, director of care management at SAGE
• Catherine Thurston, senior director of services and training at SAGE

The e-linc program is being funded by the HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce Division of Nursing and Public Health Nursing Education and Practice Branch. (UD7HP26907). The information provided about e-linc should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, or the U.S. Government.