2 watson-lgbt presentation

Improving intergenerational
relations through a targeted
approach in the UK:
case study of pioneering work
among the LGBT community
Jessica Watson, International Longevity Centre – UK
International Federation on Ageing Conference
May 30 2012

The International Longevity Centre-UK is an independent, non-partisan think-tank
dedicated to addressing issues of longevity, ageing and population change.

About ILC-UK

 The International Longevity Centre-UK is the leading
UK think tank on longevity and demographic change.
It is an independent, non-partisan think-tank
dedicated to addressing issues of longevity, ageing
and population change.

 The ILC-UK is one of 14 partners in the International
Longevity Centre Global Alliance. The alliance is a
multinational research and educational consortium.


ILC-UK work on intergenerational
relations in the LGBT community
 ‘Bridging the gap: exploring the potential for
bringing older and younger LGBT people together’
- Evidence review

 ‘Celebrating Intergenerational Diversity’ –
evaluation of three pilot projects

 ‘Intergenerational projects for the LGBT
community’ – toolkit for creating an
intergenerational project

What do we mean by LGBT?

 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender

 LGBTQ – includes terms such as
‘Questioning’ or ‘Queer’

 Identity versus behaviour

 Shared issues; discrimination,
marginalisation


UK LGBT community
 5-7% of the UK population are LGB

 Data issues


Ageing in the LGBT community
 Invisibility in research

 Youth as a precondition to participation in
culture

 Premature ageing


Issues facing LGBT people
 Social exclusion

 Mental ill-health

 Physical health risks

 Service responses


A role for intergenerational work?
 “…aims to bring people together in purposeful,
mutually beneficial activities which promote
greater understanding and respect between
generations and contributes to building more
cohesive communities. Intergenerational practice
is inclusive, building on the positive resources that
the young and old have to offer each other and
those around them.”

 Diverse objectives and approaches

A role for intergenerational work?
 Identifying common ground

 Potential benefits

 Limitations

 Challenges


Pilot LGBT projects
 Stockport
– advocacy and research

 Leicester
– local history

 Camden
– arts workshops


Pilot project evaluation
 Aims

 Methodology
– Semi-structured interviews
– Evaluation forms
– Analysis with coding template

 Limitations


Participation

Project Camden Leicester Stockport

Number of Older
Participants 15 8 10
Engaged

Number of
Younger
Participants
15 13 18
Engaged
Total Number of
Participants
30 21 28


Participation


Benefits of working intergenerationally
in the LGBT community
 Greater understanding of one’s LGBT identity
– “Understanding properly what it means to be a gay man”

 Sharing experiences
– “If people don’t interact, whatever group they are and don’t
talk to each other, you don’t understand the problems and
as a consequence also your problems as well.”

 Needs analysis
– “Next of kin questions – should be accepted no matter what
the sexuality”

 Strengthening intergenerational ties
– “For many people the family environment is a heterosexual
set up and so if you are a younger person who is LGBT
you are not going to have that kind of conversation with
your grandparents”

 Providing LGBT role models
– “for a lot of younger people, seeing older people…gave
them thought about the way they want to be [in the future]”


 Reducing discrimination and stereotyping
– “…I thought that older people were rude and not
approachable, I don’t know why, but they are not like that”

 Improving social support
- Interviews revealed a number of participants planned to stay
in touch with someone they met on the project

 Improving skills
– more than 90% respondents reporting positive development
in confidence and working with others

Challenges of working
intergenerationally
 Slow development of group dynamics

 Reported communication difficulties

 Working alongside existing groups

 Practical obstacles


Toolkit development
 Informed by evidence review
and pilot projects evaluation

 Development of a process
model for establishing a
project

 Informal, engaging language

 Case studies and quotations


Recommendations
 Further work is needed to understand the benefits
of intergenerational work among the LGBT
community

 Youth services and older people’s networks in a
time of cuts

 Services and marginalised groups

 Focus on soft skills

 Public funding of intergenerational work

Many thanks

 Dr Dylan Kneale, Sally-Marie Bamford, Charlotte
Potter, Valentina Serra, Lilly Diener

 Age UK Camden, Leicester, Stockport; Gendered
Intelligence (Camden); Leicester LGBT Centre;
Stockport Youth Services

Many thanks
Copies of the report available:

www.ilcuk.org.uk

International Longevity Centre - UK

dylankneale@ilcuk.org.uk or jessicawatson@ilcuk.org.uk

Twitter: @ilcuk


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