During an intensive half-day workshop with research users, we aim to identify and jointly fund an evidence-based initiative among multiple frontline service providers to increase social connection among queer seniors living with HIV-positive and HIV-negative statuses in the lower mainland. We plan to invite twenty research users from frontline organizations, inclusive of a Two-Spirit Indigenous Elder, a well-known trans sex worker activist, two graduate note takers, twelve frontline research users, and four event planning team members. Research users will be recruited through existing relationships held by the long-standing advocacy organizations Ribbon Community and Saige Community Food Share, reaching out to staff at Dignity Seniors Centre, the Gordon Neighbourhood House, Qmunity, and others for a 4-hour workshop where a nutritious lunch and snack are provided by Cedar Feast House Catering Ltd.
Meeting at the Gordon Neighbourhood House Room 1, we will start the event with a land acknowledgement and opening by Bon Fabian, Two-Spirit, Métis Elder. From there we plan to have three discussion sessions. In session 1, co-facilitators Chown and Stillwagon will begin by asking users to share one thing each user notices about social isolation and food security among queer seniors. Stillwagon will then present an overview on recent evidence-based science that documents interventions that reduce isolation and loneliness among queer seniors, with specific recommendations to increase their wellbeing and social belonging. We will also hear from a guest speaker, Velvet Steele, on her lived reality on how it is to age gracefully as a trans sex worker activist in Vancouver, BC.
In session 2, we will map out the collective offerings of the service providers, ranging from community kitchens, grocery programs, peer support groups, and HIV care services. We aim to understand what research users do already and how we may pool resources to improve a service gap. The final session addresses these goals pragmatically through a ‘red, yellow, and green light’ exercise. From the ‘green light’ ideas, we will distill one activity—such as community lunches—that we can evaluate as an implementation science study over 6 months to determine how it improves social belonging. This event will nurture nascent relationships between Ribbon, Saige, and UVic, identify key science-backed strategies, and solidify a commitment to pooling resources for a specific community event we can evaluate.
Additional team members and participating organizations:
Tanya Kuhn (she, her, hers), Co-Founder and Director of Programs, Saige Community Food Share; Sarah McNeil (she, her, hers), Program Coordinator, Ribbon Community; Matthew Little (he, him, his), Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria; Velvet Steele (she, her, hers), Sex, Health, Wellness, Beauty, and Lifestyle Extraordinaire; Ryan Hunter (he, him, his), Co-Founder and Chair of the Board, Saige Community Food Share; and all of the community partners at Ribbon Community, Saige Community Food Share, Qmunity, and other queer-affirming frontline organizations in Vancouver, BC, and beyond that we are building collaborations with to lead this important work.