RESEARCH

 

Lesbians and Gay Men Face Barriers When They Make Long-Term Care Decisions, TCU Researchers Report

 

Lesbians and gay older adults face serious problems when they consider entering long-term care facilities, reports a team of social work and nursing professors at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

 

“Older lesbians and gay men often feel they must go back into hiding when they become ill, vulnerable and dependent on others,” says Harriet Cohen, professor of social work at TCU. “It is troubling when these women and men decide they must hide a critical part of their identity in order to feel physically and emotionally safe in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or retirement communities.”

 

Dr. Cohen and four TCU colleagues call on long-term care facilities to develop statements of non-discrimination that include sexual orientation. They also advocate cultural competence training for long-term care staffers, residents and their families.

 

The recommendations are made in a paper titled “Older Lesbians and Gay Men: Long-Term Care Issues,” published in the February 2008 issue of Annals of Long-Term Care. The co-authors are Linda Cox Curry, professor of nursing; David Jenkins, professor of social work; Charles A. Walker, professor of nursing; and Mildred O. Hogstel, professor emerita of nursing. All work through the Center for Healthy Aging at TCU.

 

Based on the common gauge that between three and five percent of the older population uses long-term care facilities, they estimate that by 2030, between 120,000 and 300,000 lesbians and gay men will access these services across the U.S.

 

Fear of homophobic attitudes among long-term care staff and residents could keep that number from being higher, they say. (more)

Salting away data under the Texas sun

 

Joel Mitchell is tracking down the science behind hydration for the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. While summer 2007 didn’t break any heat records in Fort Worth, it was scorching in TCU’s Department of Kinesiology.

 

Fueled by a $19,000 grant from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, department Chair Joel Mitchell, Assistant Professor Melody Phillips, graduate student Kimberly Hubing and a handful of assistants researched how sodium levels in endurance athletes such as marathoners and triathletes are affected by extensive exercise in sweltering weather.

 

“In other words, what causes low sodium levels in the blood?” Mitchell said. Another part of the research analyzed the connection between glycogen (stored sugar in the muscles) and fluid intake.

Nearly 85 percent of sodium in the body is found in the blood and lymph fluids. For the body to function, the intestines and kidneys must adjust sodium concentrations, with the intestines absorbing sodium while the kidneys excrete an almost equal amount in urine.

 

Because sodium is a key element in electrical impulse activity, abnormal levels impair neuromuscular function. The low-sodium condition — hyponatremia — is diagnosed through a blood sample. Normal sodium levels are 136-145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) of blood. A blood sodium level lower than 135 mEq/L indicates hyponatremia.

 

Three people per 1,000 show symptoms, and some individuals are predisposed to the condition. A common cause is excessive water intake. A dehydrated person normally has high sodium; when she rehydrates, her sodium levels return to normal. Rehydrating too quickly can drive sodium levels too low because the excessive water dilutes the salt in the blood.

 

Most athletes know that dehydration is dangerous, but overhydration can also pose threats — nausea, loss of mental activity and, in extreme cases, seizures, coma or death. (more)