Publications by authors named "Shari Brotman"

Malgré l'attention renouvelée de plusieurs médias sur la question des risques liés à la COVID-19 au sein de diverses communautés marginalisées au Québec, nous entendons encore très peu parler des personnes âgées immigrantes et de leurs proches. Dans cette note sur les politiques et pratiques, nous aborderons l'expérience du contexte pandémique chez les personnes âgées immigrantes montréalaises et leurs réseaux. Nous présenterons d'abord quelques données sociodémographiques sur les immigrants âgés montréalais.

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This paper contributes to the growing body of work on precarious labor, immigration, and social gerontology by examining the racialization of precarious employment across the life course. In particular, the authors examine the impact of precarious employment and discrimination among racialized older immigrants in Canada. Racialized older immigrants are more likely to be disadvantaged by the effects of lifelong intersections of economic and social discrimination rooted in racialization, gender, ageism, and socio-economic status.

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This commentary addresses barriers to care among older adults living with neurodiversity (ND), and their aging family carers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Factors contributing to inequities are described and the significant negative consequences of current policy decisions on the social and mental health of older adults with ND and their aging family carers are highlighted. The commentary calls for a collective social work response that highlights the critical role of support and advocacy necessary to redress social exclusion.

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This qualitative study employed a cross sectional focus group design to explore how older gay men living with HIV, experience, perceive, and engage with advance care planning (ACP). Seven gay men 50+, residing in Montreal, Canada, participated in a focus group that was audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Findings suggested that social isolation, preoccupations with day-to-day living, and managing disclosures related to sexual orientation and HIV status created barriers to these men's capacities to about let alone about future care.

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Canadian, US, and UK public health and clinical research has identified barriers to health service access for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, and intersex (2SLGBTQ+) communities. While offering important insight into the health service experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ communities, this body of research only recently, and still only minimally, reports on home care access experiences. Drawing on key findings from the 2SLGBTQ+ Home Care Access Project, a mixed-methods, Ontario-wide study, this paper animates an Access and Equity Framework, using participant stories and perspectives to underscore the relevance and effectiveness of the Framework as a tool to support systematic organizational assessment, evaluation, and implementation of access and equity strategies.

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ABSTRACTIt is critical to ensure that long-term care (LTC) homes are sensitive to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults. However, the extent to which the LTC home sector has adopted recommended strategies is unknown. This qualitative study reports findings from two initiatives: Semi-structured telephone interviews with Canadian LTC home administrators on strategies adopted to support LGBT inclusivity (n = 32), and discussions with participants attending a 2-day meeting on supporting LGBT inclusivity in LTC (n = 25).

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This article reports the findings of an exploratory study examining service provider perceptions and experiences of addressing sexuality and intimacy with women spousal caregivers. The caregiver-provider encounter is examined, and challenges faced by service providers in addressing sexuality are considered. Themes identified include ambivalence and discomfort, personal and institutional barriers, meanings attributed to sexuality and intimacy, and lack of opportunities to discuss experiences.

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This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people. Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the authors suggest an analytic approach to better account for the connections between individual narratives and systems of domination that impinge upon the everyday lives of racialized older people. Our proposed intersectional life course perspective includes four dimensions: 1) identifying key events and their timing, 2) examining locally and globally linked lives, 3) exploring categories of difference and how they shape identities, 4) and assessing how processes of differentiation, and systems of domination shape the lives, agency and resistance among older people.

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This article illustrates the concept of reciprocity in the context of immigrant families. It recommends that definition of reciprocity account for exchanges beyond the immediate family, and render visible the simultaneous location of older people as care recipients and providers, and care arrangements across generations, borders, community, and time. Adopting a critical ethnographic study on the aging and care experiences of older Filipinos in Canada, this article analyzes data from extended observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 older people, 6 adult children, and 13 community stakeholders.

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As researchers in the field of diversity and aging, we share Williams et al.'s call for policymakers to pay attention to the experiences of family caregivers across a wider spectrum than that which currently operates in health and social care. This paper addresses the particular issues at play in interactions between caregivers from marginalized 1communities and mainstream service providers.

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This article explores the results of a qualitative community-based research project on the intersectional experiences of sexual minority refugees living in Canada. Undertaken between 2008 and 2010, this study examines sexual minority refugees' multifaceted experiences of migration, the refugee determination process, and settlement. Through an analysis of the interrelated themes of identity, refugeeness, and belonging, we hope to further investigate the ways in which Canadian refugee policies, social institutions, and dominant discourses contribute to the sociopolitical construction of sexual minority refugees.

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Women's health research strives to make change. It seeks to produce knowledge that promotes action on the variety of factors that affect women's lives and their health. As part of this general movement, important strides have been made to raise awareness of the health effects of sex and gender.

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Purpose: This article reports on the findings of a study whose purpose was to explore the experiences of caregivers of gay and lesbian seniors living in the community and to identify issues that emerged from an exploration of access to and equity in health care services for these populations.

Design And Methods: The study used a qualitative methodology based upon principles of grounded theory in which open-ended interviews were undertaken with 17 caregivers living in three different cities across Canada.

Results: Findings indicated several critical themes, including the impact of felt and anticipated discrimination, complex processes of coming out, the role of caregivers, self-identification as a caregiver, and support.

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This article examines the question of how universities can be encouraged to address the mental health concerns of GLBT-SQ people and communities from a perspective of solidarity. In so doing, the authors take a case study approach, using Project Interaction: The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirit Initiative of McGill University's School of Social Work, to critically reflect upon the challenges arising from the development of an alternative organization within academia. The purpose of this reflection is to highlight how normal operations at work on university campuses, and within health and allied health curriculum, can be disrupted with the goal of providing momentum for the creation of affirmative space, the advancement of educational initiatives, and the building of opportunities for social change.

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Purpose: This article reports the findings of a study, undertaken in 2000, whose purpose was to gather information about the experiences and realities of gay and lesbian seniors and their families from across Canada in accessing a broad range of health and social services in the community, and to examine the role of health care and social service organizations in shaping access and service delivery.

Design And Methods: This study used a qualitative exploratory design based on focus group interviews. Perspectives of older gay men and lesbians and their families involved in organizations addressing these issues, as well as professionals from both gay and lesbian health organizations and mainstream elder care organizations were sought.

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This paper documents the experiences of health care access among gay, lesbian, bisexual and Two-Spirit (glbt-s) people in Canada. In particular, it addresses the importance of coming out as glbt-s to the development of good health and appropriate care. The paper reflects upon the impact of hiding one's sexual orientation on glbt-s people's experience of and use of health care resources and the responsibility of health care institutions to address homophobia and create supportive environments in order to facilitate the coming out process in health care settings.

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