Join us Thursday, June 18 at 12 PM ET for the CLSA webinar “Health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): methodological considerations for CLSA data users.” The webinar will be presented by Nicole G Hammond, postdoctoral research fellow in the College of Community and Global Health from the University of Manitoba.
It is well established that sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual [LGB]) people experience disparities in health, including chronic health conditions. However, older sexual minority adults are underrepresented in population-based health surveys. As a result, their health status and later-life health needs are not clearly understood. Addressing these health equity knowledge gaps is essential to provide equitable aging-related gerontological care.
This study sought to address some of the Canadian knowledge gaps. Specifically, we estimated the prevalence and incidence of several health-related outcomes among LGB+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority identifying) participants in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): physical health, mental health, health care service use, negative health behaviours, and other health-related factors. While LGB+ Canadians disproportionately report chronic health conditions, the most persuasive evidence was observed for a greater mental health burden in mid to later life. Methodological challenges that affect data analysis and the interpretation of study findings will be discussed. This webinar concludes with an applied epidemiological example illustrating how to better understand the diverse health needs of older Canadians to promote healthy aging and health equity.
Dr. Nicole G Hammond is a psychiatric epidemiologist and a postdoctoral fellow with research interests in health equity and determinants of mental health across the lifespan. Her work integrates the fields of psychiatric and life course epidemiology, population health equity, and mediational and causal inference methods. She examines how early-life adversity and social determinants shape health across the life course. She is particularly interested in the mechanisms by which early-life adversity and social determinants affect health to isolate factors amenable to intervention, or not, when the opportunity for prevention has elapsed. Her work also directly informs upstream early-life stress prevention and health promotion initiatives. She is a recognized Emerging Scholar (2024) with the Canadian Research Data Centre Network, and her postdoctoral research at the University of Manitoba is funded through a CIHR Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA).
