CIHR Catalyst Grant : Community-Led Research on LGBTQIA/2S Wellness – Registration
Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery
Deadlines
Academic Unit: Inquire within your unit
Memorial Deadline: No RGCS review required for the Registration
External Deadline: Wednesday 8th, September 2021
Description
SIRI will be offering support with application development for this opportunity. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Jennifer Stevens (v5js@mun.ca) early during the development process to discuss the services available to them.
LGBTQIA/2S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and Two Spirit) communities experience worse health outcomes across the life course as compared to heterosexual and/or cisgender Canadians. LGBTQIA/2S communities’ lived experiences suggest that these disparities and their potential solutions likely relate to intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression, including but not limited to racism, xenophobia, homophobia, heterosexism, and transphobia from both within and outside of LGBTQIA/2S communities. The complex interactions between these multiple identities and experiences have downstream impacts on anxiety, depression, substance use, suicide, health behaviours and access to health services, and must be considered in health research. On the other hand, belonging to an LGBTQIA/2S community can also be a source of strength, resilience, and positive health outcomes.
Intersectionality – a framework rooted in the grassroots community organizing of Black LGBTQIA/2S women1, and that has been put into practice by Indigenous communities since time immemorial2 – allows for the investigation of the multidimensional aspects of identity and experience, inclusive of historical, structural, and cultural context and processes of power, privilege, oppression, and discrimination. For example, it would be appropriate to investigate the impacts of intersections of gender, sexual orientation, and racism against Black, Caribbean, African, Latin American, Middle Eastern, East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Indigenous and Pacific Islander people on access to care, health risk profiles, and health outcomes through an intersectional lens.
In 2018, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health undertook a study on LGBTQIA/2S health and developed recommendations on actions that the federal government could take, in partnership with the provinces and territories. It was recognized that the people who best know how to improve the health of LGBTQIA/2S communities are those who are part of these communities, and that LGBTQIA/2S communities should be involved in the development of policies and programs affecting their health.
In January 2020, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and CIHR, in collaboration with governmental agencies, co-sponsored a Best Brains Exchange (BBE) to review current evidence, identify data needs, and find opportunities to strengthen interventions across government departments to improve health equity for LGBTQIA/2S communities within the broader federal policy context. It was recommended that research funders should promote and support community-based research approaches that foster meaningful engagement with LGBTQIA/2S communities through all stages of research, while recognizing the time and resources required to facilitate participation.
Additional information can be found on ResearchNet.