{"id":74608,"date":"2021-03-11T12:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?p=74608"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:36:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:36:25","slug":"new-report-highlights-shared-concerns-of-lgbtq2-workers-and-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/2021\/new-report-highlights-shared-concerns-of-lgbtq2-workers-and-older-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report Highlights Shared Concerns of LGBTQ2+ Workers and Older Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n New Report Highlights Shared Concerns of LGBTQ2+ Workers and Older Adults\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

LGBTQ2+ older adults who use public services and LGBTQ2+ workers who work in them share similar safety concerns, according to a new research report from 杏吧原创 University\u2019s Susan Braedley<\/a> and her partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, service conditions for older adults and working conditions are addressed separately. This research suggests that addressing them together is a more promising approach, but with important implications for public services planning, funding and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, It\u2019s Got to Be 杏吧原创 Safety: <\/em>Public Services that Work for LGBTQ2+ Older Adults and LGBTQ2+ Workers<\/em> in Canada is the product of a collaboration between Braedley, a professor in the School of Social Work<\/a>, 杏吧原创 doctoral student Christine Streeter<\/a>, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and Egale Canada, who are all involved in Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded international partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report focuses on public services used frequently by older adults aged 55 and above, including seniors’ drop-in programs, community health centres, parks, libraries, social housing, hospitals, residential long-term care and home care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur national environmental scan, literature review, interviews and focus groups with LGBTQ2+ older adults and workers have all emphasized that we need to pay attention to how unsafe services are,\u201d said Braedley. \u201cFeeling safe or not safe was something both older adults and workers talked about a lot. 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers told stories about managers who suggested that being \u201ctoo gay\u201d or working on LGBTQ2+ initiatives might negatively affect their career tracks. LGBTQ2+ older adults and workers\u2019 experiences included physical violence, harassment and outright denial of services and employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report identified a number of issues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n