If you choose to take part, you will be part of a group discussion with about eight people who also fit the above description. The focus groups will discuss ageing and social care needs. We will ask you to discuss your experiences of social care assessments with each other, as well as your thoughts on how sexual orientation and gender identity can be sensitively asked about and supported by social care organisations. These will take place at a location convenient for all group members. We will arrange a time best suited to those taking part. The focus groups will last approximately 1.5 hours (including time to sign the consent forms and ask any last questions you have, as well as breaks). We will also ask you to complete a brief questionnaire about yourself, though you do not have to complete this if you do not want to. Taking part in a focus group is voluntary and you can withdraw from the project at any time.
If you would rather not be in a focus group, but still would be interested in sharing your experiences, we can arrange an individual interview. If you would prefer your carer or significant other to be present for that interview, we can facilitate that.
If you participate in this project, you will get a £20 voucher as a compensation for your time.
Focus groups (or interview) will be transcribed in full by a transcriber approved by University of Birmingham. We will use these transcriptions alongside other data we are gathering from your council, and other councils in England, including interviews with other social care workers at those councils, and focus groups with older LGBTQ+ people (we plan to run focus groups/interviews with 24 service users total). We will identify key themes relevant to improving social care assessments for older LGBTQ+ people, including what is working well and where there are particular problems that require addressing.
We will communicate the findings and key messages to older LGBTQ+ people, social care services and social care workers through published reports, conference presentations and webinars. These will include a webinar for your local councilto help them improve their specific service. If you want to hear more about the study after the focus groups, we can post or email you a short summary of the research findings if you wish. It is our hope that messages from the research will help provide better social care for older LGBTQ+ people.