From working with LGBT+ young people to create practical resources, to making sure data systems are properly taking account of LGBT+ people, our research teams are working on a range of projects to understand more about the experiences and particular mental health needs of LGBT+ people. To mark LGBT+ History Month, we have summarised some of that research in the Department of Psychiatry.
Child and adolescent mental health
The UKRI funded ATTUNE project uses creative arts and participatory methods to work with young people aged between 10-24 who may have been affected by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In particular ATTUNE is focused on the impact of place; rural, urban and coastal and also the role of factors such as gender, sexuality and race in an adolescents’ mental health. The team say it is important that young people from a range of backgrounds and identities have the opportunity to not only participate in research but also be involved in the design of the project. Young people from LGBT+ groups have not only participated in ATTUNE but have also been a part of the co-design and stakeholder groups, and have helped design resources such as games to help young people talk about their experiences.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr Isabelle Butcher, said:
Individuals from LGBT+ groups, have a voice and it is important that research considers their experiences – failure to listen to all adolescents’ experiences limits the reach of the research. Listening to all individuals allows for everyone’s experiences to be examined and considered.”
The ORIGIN (Optimising cultural expeRIences for mental health in underrepresented younG people onlINe) project, led by Senior Clinical Research Fellow Dr Rebecca Syed Sheriff (left), is developing an ‘online museum’ with young people of underrepresented backgrounds and will test its effectiveness on nearly 1,500 young people in reducing depression and anxiety. Partnered with charities, museums, NHS Trusts and multiple universities, the project is particularly targeting under-represented groups such as LBGTQ+ and autistic young people.
Two educational support resources have been developed for trans youth, family members and friends as well as health professionals and the wider public, about the health needs of young trans people. Led by Dr Melissa Stepney, the project involved interviewing over 90 trans and non-binary young people, parents, carers and health professionals. Their experiences are available to read and watch on the website.
Dr Stepney said:
“Trans young people are persistently at the centre of political storms and debate in the UK regarding their access to health care and treatment. It’s now more vital than ever to centre the voices of trans young people in research like ours, and to platform young people’s diverse identities and experiences…the multimedia resources that we created, based on the research, provide a supportive and educational insight into young people’s struggles, joys and everyday experiences from all walks of life – we can all learn something from these resources. This research, not least, helps to counter the spread of misinformation about trans lives.”
You can also check out the full findings and results from the project in the recently published report that makes recommendation on how to improve health services for trans and gender-diverse young people and their families.
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We’ve really grappled with how to be as accurate and inclusive as possible in our research with adolescents, as often we work with datasets in which gender constructs have been poorly defined or measured and/or that represent an outdated conceptualisation of gender identity. For the paper, we worked in partnership with a small group of trans and gender diverse young people to share lessons learned from the OxWell study and hopefully provide some useful suggestions for others navigating similar difficulties.” |
Improving Data
Associate Professor Sarah Bauermeister (left) is looking to launch the ‘Not Just a Missing Number’ (N-Jam) project, which aims to address key overlooked outcomes of lack of appropriate categorisation provided for the LGBTQIA+ communities.
The historic lack of categorization for non-binary gender identity means that members of the LBGTQIA+ community do not, cannot, or do not wish to identify with the gender categories provided in healthcare and research and are forced to select 'other', 'non-specified’ or ‘do not wish to answer’. This means that members of the community may be simply recoded as a 'missing number', resulting in the exclusion of their data from important findings, treatments or solutions for neurodegenerative and mental health diseases.
Associate Professor Bauermeister’s research would mean the LGBTQIA+ community would be included in analyses which explore outcomes of neurodegeneration and mental health specific to these communities (for example, the impact of marginalisation) for the first time.
Dr Bauermeister said:
I’m very passionate about combatting inequality, which drives a lot of my work – from running dementia-informing art workshops for ethnic minorities, advocating for equality with access to a variety of hearing aids, and supporting women in science, particularly after post-doc level in elite institutions. I also have a family member who is in the trans community, and whilst I’ve been supportive of his journey I know from the many accounts of his friends that this is rare. If people are struggling within their families, as well as within social and medical settings, it’s hard to be seen and heard. By making this project community-led – I see myself solely as the link to the scientific community, and will likely be the only cis person on the steering committee – I hope we can do essential work of widening inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in medical research, and in turn provide better long-term health outcomes.”
Senior Research Scientist Andrey Kormilitzin outlined a participatory study in Nature last year, aimed at improving the way artificial intelligence (AI) takes account of data from LGBT+ groups. The Delphi study, developed in collaboration with Professor Daniel W Joyce from the University of Liverpool and other partners, aims to put together a toolkit on how to structure questions and present ways for people to articulate their sexual orientation and gender identities so that data is robust and representative, how and when the data can be reused, and process and safeguards that need to be put in place to ensure the data is only used for legitimate purposes. In order to do this, they have put together a survey. Dr Kormilitzin said:
We want to make sure LGBTQI+ people are front-and-centre of a process to improve how data is collected and used to improve services and benefit the community so that their experiences and needs are properly reflected in the data, tools and technology used to support theirs’ and the community’s mental health.”