Are they family or friends? Social support instrument reliability in studying older lesbians.

We know little about the support needs and health of older lesbians because participant sexual identity has typically not been identified in aging studies. The Lubben Social Network Scale, Revised (LSNS-R) is found widely reliable for testing perceived social support among elders but has never been tested with an exclusively lesbian population. This pilot tested the instrument with an exclusively lesbian population in the Midwest.

Broadening definitions of family for older lesbians: modifying the Lubben social network scale.

Lesbian seniors have triple vulnerability (gender, sexual orientation, and age), necessitating inquiry into their social support needs, yet research about that is scare. Investigators identify relationships between social support and senior health. The Lubben Social Network Scale, Revised (LSNS-R), has provided such evidence and has been used to study many diverse senior groups.

"I will not be discriminated against": older lesbians creating new communities.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults fear discrimination in long-term care and voice a preference for LGBT-specific services. The purpose of this study was to describe, through the eyes of 10 socially interconnected older lesbians (>55 years), the roles that life experiences, social ties, and expectations for aging play in their decision to live in an LGBT continuous-care setting. Nursing has been largely inattentive to older lesbians' unique health and care issues.