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OBJECTIVES: This study explored the preferences about features, policies, and location of long-term care (LTC) facilities among cis- and transgender individuals with different forms of sexual orientation, that is, identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), in comparison with each other and to those identified as heterosexual (HET) in Germany. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A quota-sample of n = 4000 participants aged 40 to 70 years (n = 333 identified as LGB), including cis- and transgender individuals, drawn from the Online Access Panel of Respondi/Bilendi (German market research institute). METHODS: Participants rated the importance of LTC facilities' features and policy (eg, living with spouse, permitted a pet) and location (eg, in a city). Analyses were conducted with adjusted multiple regression analyses with robust standard errors. RESULTS: LGB participants rated a location within a city, permission for intimate relationships, lesbian, gay, bi, and trans (LGBT)-friendly and LGBT-only LTC facilities as significantly more important and HET-only LTC facilities as significantly less important than HET participants. Compared with gay men, bisexual men rated LGBT-friendly and LGBT-only LTC facilities as less important, whereas lesbian women placed more importance on having their own room and keeping pets. Bisexual women placed less importance on LGBT-only LTC facilities and location within a city, but more importance on keeping pets than gay men. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Preferences concerning LTC facilities were reported by individuals with different sexual orientation, including cis- and transgender adults in Germany. The LGB and HET community reported different preferences for policies, features, and location of LTC facilities, highlighting the importance of creating a welcoming space for the LGB community. Differences in preferences between gay, lesbian, and especially the understudied bisexual community further emphasized the need to take a diversified approach to research and policy decisions on LTC facilities.
Zwar et al. (Wed,) studied this question.