There is a common misconception that people older than age 65 are all alike. This stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. A recent Gallup poll found that 7% of American adults identify as LGBTQ, the highest number of LGBTQ residents in the United States since Gallup began polling. Other studies show that 22% of people ages 65 and older reported having a disability, and yet another study found that by 2030, the population of older racial/ethnic minority populations will increase by 89%, compared to a 39% increase in White older adults.

This webinar will review in-depth intersecting minority identities among older adults (focusing primarily on race, disability, social class, and LGTBQ+ identities) and will encourage participants to explore their own biases and assumptions, as well as strategies for reducing cultural bias in clinical interactions. A model will be shared for deepening interpersonal cultural humility and vignettes will be used to apply knowledge.

Participants in this webinar will:

• Define cultural humility.
• Illustrate intersecting minority identities among people older than age 65 (focusing primarily on age, race, disability, social class, and LGTBQ+ identities).
• Describe the important role of resilience factors among minoritized people older than age 65.

Presenter:

Dr. Regina Koepp is a board-certified clinical psychologist and founder and director of the Center for Mental Health & Aging. She is the lead medical psychologist at University of Vermont Medical Center and creator and host of the Psychology of Aging Podcast. She is a sought-after speaker on the topics of mental health and aging, caregiving, ageism, cultural humility, sexual health and aging, intimacy in the context of life-altering Illness and dementia and sexual expression. She is creator of the only dementia and sexual health certification program in the United States. Dr. Koepp a contributing writer at Psychology Today and Psychotherapy Networker, where she discusses mental health and sexual health in the context of aging and illness. She has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Insider and other national periodicals.

This is the second webinar in the Leading Change in Aging Through DEI Accountability series co-hosted by the Aging and Disability Business Institute and the American Society on Aging.