Researchers in Carleton University’s School of Social Work released a report on March 11, 2021 that demonstrates for the first time that LGBTQ2+ older adults, and the workers who care for them, have the same concern for safety in public spaces.
The report, “It’s Got to Be About Safety: Public Services that Work for LGBTQ2+ Older Adults and LGBTQ2+ Workers in Canada,” is the product of a collaboration between Social Work Associate Prof. Susan Braedley, doctoral student Christine Streeter, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Egale Canada.
The group is collaborating on an international seven-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council partnership grant entitled “Age-Friendly Communities in Communities: International Promising Practices.”
“As we conducted our research, LGBTQ2+ older adults and workers in a number of communities emphasized to us that we needed to pay attention to how unsafe services were,” says Braedley, associate director of the SSHRC project.
“Feeling safe or not safe was something both older adults and workers talked about a lot.”
The researchers focused on public services used frequently by older adults, including seniors’ drop-in programs, community health centres, buses, parks, libraries, social housing, hospitals, residential long-term care and home care.
Prof. Susan Braedley
“Older adults told of having to go back to the closet in their own homes in order to feel safe accessing home care,” or being physically assaulted in washrooms,” said Braedley.
Workers reported dealing with managers who suggested that being “too gay” or working on LGBTQ2+ initiatives might negatively affect their career tracks. LGBTQ2+ older adults.
Experiences of both groups included physical violence, harassment and outright denial of services and employment.
Read the full story in Carleton Newsroom…
View panel discussions on report…
Thursday, March 11, 2021 in News, School of Social Work
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