Registration required by Jan.
20

Boulder County, Colo. - Boulder County Area Agency on Aging is hosting a Project Visibility community-based
training on Thursday, Jan. 26 in Boulder.

This workshop is designed to educate professional service
care providers, community members, and friends and family members about the
particular needs and strengths of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
elders.

What: Project
Visibility: Person-Centered Care for LGBT elders
When: Thursday,
Jan. 26
Time: 9:15 a.m. –
3 p.m. training with an hour lunch break
Where: Via
Mobility Services Training Room, 2855 63rd St., Boulder
Cost: Free of
charge, though advance registration is required

Project
Visibility is an award-winning training program developed by Boulder
County Area Agency on Aging, after they conducted extensive focus groups with
area LGBT older adults.

Despite rights advances, LGBT older adults still worry about
feeling forced back into the closet to receive the care they need. Commonly,
living in long term care homes, LGBT elders face a wall of assumptions about
who they are and the lives they have led. LGBT Program Specialist and trainer Ash
Bell says, “LGBT older adults lived in a time during which overt discrimination
toward them was commonplace. Far fewer legal protections meant little recourse
when their housing, jobs, and basic safety were threatened. Respectful care for
LGBT elders involves an appreciation for the strengths and needs that accompany
such history.”

Participants will view a short
award-winning film in which elders speak about their lives, their strengths,
wishes, and concerns about the aging services network. Trainees will gain
tools and practice skills for creating welcoming environments, anticipating the
questions and concerns of LGBT older adults, and intervening when discrimination
or hostility occurs. Each participant will receive a resource-paced
manual.

For information or to register, contact Ash Bell at
ashbell@bouldercounty.org. The deadline to register is noon on Friday,
Jan. 20.