“Giving Staff the Tools They Need”—How SAGECare’s LGBT Training Continues to Resonate with VNSNY Caregivers

VNSNY is now in its third year of providing SAGECare LGBT competency training to its employees. Today, this training—which teaches the importance of respecting all sexual orientations and gender identities, and outlines specific ways to achieve this—continues to resonate with VNSNY staff members.

SAGECare trainer Sadiya Abjani.

“We recently had four wonderful training sessions with HHA supervisors at Partners in Care,” says Sadiya Abjani, a trainer from SAGE, the advocacy group for LGBT seniors, who works frequently with VNSNY staff. “Partners in Care, and VNSNY as a whole, do an amazing job of cultivating an incredibly diverse workforce. This diversity lifts our SAGECare training to a completely different level, by letting us hear where different people are coming from in their journey of understanding and caring for our LGBT constituency.”

In her recent Partners in Care sessions, notes Sadiya, “There were definite ‘ah-hah’ moments for those attending.” While the 90-minute sessions were often fun and lively, she adds, “we also dug deep into specific issues and had serious conversations. In particular, we discussed how they, as supervisors, can make sure they’re armed with the skills and tools to ensure that their home health aides have all the information they need to do their job effectively.”

For Elizabeth Acosta, a Lead Supervisor with Partners in Care, highlights of her SAGECare session included learning the background of the gay rights movement, such as the history of the Stonewall protests, as well as the discussions around how to communicate effectively and respectfully with older LGBT adults. “Sadiya gave us the knowledge and awareness to support the different types of people we serve,” she says. “Her presentation was also really entertaining. It was a very positive experience!”

Elizabeth Acosta (left), and Christina Farooque Tejada, both Lead HHA Supervisors for Partners in Care.

“I found myself getting teary-eyed, watching the video clips about what older LGBT adults have gone through in the past and why they may be reluctant even now to share their sexual orientation,” adds Christina Farooque Tejada, another Lead Supervisor at Partners in Care. “It was also good to learn which terminologies are acceptable to use, and how to address people of various gender identities. We now have the information we need to deliver care more efficiently and more appropriately to members of the LGBT community.”

Sadiya stresses that the primary goal of SAGECare training is to help healthcare organizations provide the best possible care to those they serve. “At the end of the day, our goal is not changing people’s beliefs, but giving staff the tools they need to do their job effectively for everyone,” she explains. At the same time, she says, the LGBT training often does change people’s views—sometimes within a single session.

“At a diverse organization like VNSNY, people are quick to understand when I point out that policies around treating others equally apply to sexual orientation and gender in the same way they apply to race and religion,” she says. “In the Partners in Care sessions we just completed, a number of people came up afterwards to share how the training had altered their perspective.”

One Partners in Care attendee approached her after a training session to say that she had gone to the class reluctantly. “I now understand that we’re all just human beings who deserve care,” she added, and broke into tears. Sadiya started crying as well.

“Moments like that remind me of what a joy it is working with VNSNY and Partners in Care,” she says. “Over the course of two years, VNSNY has grown tremendously in its embrace of LGBT competency—and that growth is a direct result of the organization’s commitment to providing excellent care.”

Partners in Care is now on the verge of achieving its third straight Platinum certification from SAGE, meaning that 80% of its workforce will have completed a SAGECare refresher course this year. In addition to the basic SAGECare curriculum, a number of Partners in Care HHAs have also received specialized training on transgender aging. This qualifies them to participate in VNSNY’s Gender Affirmation Program, which provides post-operative care for patients who undergo gender affirmation surgery.

“The diversity of individuals and experiences at Partners in Care really models the type of workplace that I want to be a part of, and the type of people that I want caring for me when I’m older,” concludes Sadiya. “To have a workforce that is not only trained to take care of the LGBT side of a patient or client, but is also able to meet with love and compassion all of the other different pieces that make up LGBT older adults’ identities, leaves VNSNY uniquely positioned to care for our community in a really powerful way.”