Older 2S/LGBTQIA+ Adults Study

The Older 2S/LGBTQIA+ Adults Study is a national, Elder-led, community-based mixed-methods study to address these gaps by generating new national evidence on chronic health and wholistic wellbeing and co-developing scalable interventions to strengthen social connection, mental wellbeing, and access to affirming, culturally safe, and disability-accessible care for 2S/LGBTQIA+ older adults across Canada. 

The current name (The Older 2S/LGBTQIA+ Adults Study) is a placeholder name until the research team picks a name that reflects the priorities of community. Once a new name is chosen, this webpage will be updated with the chosen name and the story behind it.  

The study is led by Elder Albert McLeod, whose ceremonial guidance ground the project in Indigenous governance and accountability. The project is directed by Dr. Rusty Souleymanov, Principal Investigator. The primary research team also includes Dr. Alex Wells (University of Northern British Columbia), Mikayla Hunter, Melissa Morris, Jordan Anglin, Ben Klassen and Jessy Dame (Community-Based Research Centre), Eric Plamondon and Noreen Mian (Rainbow Resource Centre), Shiva Acharya and Saige McMahon (Two-Spirit People of the First Nations), Dr. Shahin Shooshtari (University of Manitoba), Dr. Fritz Pino (Toronto Metropolitan University), Dr. Celeste Pang (Mount Royal University), Dr. Jacquie Gahagan (Mount Saint Vincent University), and Dr. Sulaimon Abiodun Olawale Giwa (Memorial University). The project will also be guided by a community guiding circle.

The Older 2S/LGBTQIA+ Adults Study has four research objectives: 

  1. Map chronic health conditions, healthcare use, and perceived unmet needs among older 2S/LGBTQIA+ adults in Canada through secondary analysis using national datasets; 

  1. Assess seven domains of wholistic health and wellbeing among older 2S/LGBTQIA+ adults across Canada through primary data collection; 

  1. Co-develop, pilot, and evaluate community-led intervention that strengthen wholistic health support through affirming care navigation and continuity by improving access to affirming, culturally safe, and accessible health and social care; 

  1. Implement a national integrated knowledge translation and exchange (iKTE) model led by community investigators, providing governance and leadership across all phases of the research and interventions 

This study uses community-based methods to examine how aging trajectories among 2S/LGBTQIA+ older adults are shaped by intersecting systems of power and structural determinants, including colonialism, racism, heteronormativity, cisnormativity, ableism, ageism, and geographic inequities. By using a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and Indigenous methods, this study seeks to understand 2S/LGBTQIA+ aging and make recommendations in a wholistic way. People are more than just the sum of their parts. Incorporating spiritual/cultural wellbeing, sexual/relational/intimate wellbeing, and social wellbeing into this study challenges the biomedical understanding of aging that is common in colonial systems. Through this study, we aim to achieve a better understanding of 2S/LGBTQIA+ aging and provide community-led interventions to approve wholistic wellbeing for older 2S/LGBTQIA+ adults for many years to come. 

 

Questions? Contact Village Lab manager, Melissa Morris, at villagelab@umanitoba.ca