New ad campaign highlights caregivers for LGBT seniors
0A new ad campaign that highlights caregivers for LGBT elders has begun to appear in subway cars, newspapers, blogs and other media outlets throughout the five boroughs.
The Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders campaign, which highlights its SAGECAP (Caring and Preparing) program in both English and Spanish, officially began on Monday, June 14. (This reporter saw one of the ads on a Manhattan-bound J train earlier in the day.) SAGECAP offers counseling, referrals to LGBT-affirming long-term care facilities and programs, support groups and other services to the organization's clients and their caregivers. The ads will appear through July 26, but SAGE plans to expand the campaign to other cities later this year.
"This is a big step forward for SAGE because the focus is on caregivers for LGBT older people," SAGE executive director Michael Adams told EDGE. "We have to do what we can to support them."
SAGE clients, volunteers and staffers appeared in a $350,000 ad campaign that ran on city buses, subways and telephone booths and appeared in LGBT and mainstream media outlets in 2008. David Taylor, chair of the National Institute of Senior Centers, is among those who applauded the most recent campaign.
"When you have a group like LGBT [people,] it's very effective because it's not seen very often-especially older people," he said. "To have us out there is a good thing."