PAGE 8 Q-Notes ■
Gay Health...
Not An Easy Issue
By Craig Nelms
Health Care has become a major
issue for gays and lesbians because of
the aids crisis. There are many other
topics in health care which should
concern us, too. This column will deal
with a variety of topics which impact
gays and lesbians; 1 encourage you to
send ideas and suggestions to Q-Notes,
so that 1 can address matters of interest
to readers.
For the next couple of issues, we will
deal with the relationship between car
egivers and ]jatients. We have all expe
rienced the difficulty of dealing with
caregivers who are not sensitive to gay
and lesbian concerns. The suggestions
below may be helpful as you seek care
and establish yourself with new trea-
tors.
1) Utilize MAP (333-AIDS) and the
Gay and Lesbian Switchboard (525-
6128) to locate caregivers who are
known to be sensitive to gay and
lesbian concerns.
2) Be honest with doctors and nurses.
Be open about sexual issues, and also
about other aspects of your life. For
example, if your family is uncomfort
able with your lifestyle and you expect
this to be a problem during a hospital
stay, warn your doctor and ask his
cooperation in resolving the matter.
3) Obtain a Durable Power of Attor
ney, which will give your lover (or
whomever you choose to appoint in the
document) the power to act on your
behalf if you are incapacitated. Place a
copy in your medical records, and in
the business office of any hospital you
anticipate staying in. Keep the original
in a safe place, but bring it with you if
you may need to use it. This is an
important document; it will empower
your lover to take control if necessary.
Your family can take over in such
situations without this document. Ask
treators if they will recognize the docu
ment, or if they will leave decisions to
your family. If he will ignore the docu
ment, get another doctor. The time to
tell the doctor that your lover, not your
family, will maintain control is before
you become incapacitated.
4) On any form you are asked to fill
out, list your lover as “Next of Kin” or
“Person to Call in Case of Emergency.”
Let decision makers know that you
have done this. If a nurse or doctor
ever tries to exclude your lover, a
reminder of this paperwork will usually
suffice.
5) Let treators know that you will not
be ridiculed, harassed, or embarrassed.
You will not let homophobia on the
part of caregivers make you uncomfort
able. Doctors and nurses are usu^ly
willing to go out of their way to make
you comfortable; you must let them
know what behaviors make you un
comfortable. Remind them of the ef
fects of stress on ill people, and let
them know that their homophobic be
havior is a source of stress for you.
6) Never let it slide when a member
of your health team is insensitive. Be
calm and reasonable, but deal with it.
7) Develop rapport with members of
the health team, and then when prob
lems arise, ask for their assistance.
When a homophobic caregiver sees
that other caregivers are comfortable
with you, they will usually become
more sensitive. They may choose to
care for other patients,and let caregiv
ers who are comfortable with you take
over. Either way, you will avoid the
stress of dealing with homophobia.
When you are ill, you should not have
to focus energy on homophobic behav
ior. Example: “Pm too ill to fight with
Nurse Jones over whether or not my
lover can stay in the room while I’m
being treated. He is staying. Could I
have a different nurse?”
8) Invite questions by caregivers, if
See Gay Health, page 7
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