LOASCA: LGBTQ+ Older Adult Social Care Assessment study

A research project at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with University of Bristol, University of Manchester, and Opening Doors

Funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research.

INFORMATION SHEET (Care Workers)

Download the information below as a word document

This study seeks to understand older LGBTQ+ adults social care experiences and how assessments engage with sexual orientation and gender identity. We are interested in hearing from any staff who meet the following description:

  1. Social care workers (social workers, nurses, therapists, and social care workers)
  2. Involved in the assessment of older adults
  3. Employed by the council
  4. Aged 18+

Because of earlier research and talking to older LGBTQ+ people, we know that many older LGBTQ+ people experience difficulties when trying to access social care and are often anxious about discrimination or abuse because of their sexual or gender identity. Our aim is to understand how LGBTQ+ people experience the social care assessment process and wider social care services.

What does participating involve?

If you choose to take part, during an interview we will discuss your experiences of undertaking social care assessments. We will also ask you about any training or support you have received for working with older LGBTQ+ people. These will take place at a place of your choosing, though we may arrange to complete them via Teams/Zoom if COVID-19 related risks are too high. A member of the research team will arrange a time best suited to you. The interview will last approximately 45 minutes (and a further 15 minutes to discuss consent forms and ask any last questions you have, as well as take breaks as needed). Taking part is voluntary and you can withdraw from the project at any time during the data collection which will end on 1st January 2023.

The interviews will include a broad set of questions about your experiences of providing social care assessments, particularly for older LGBTQ+ people.

If you participate in this project, you will get a £20 voucher as a compensation for your time.

Interviews will be recorded and 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 (we plan to interview 30 care workers in total) and focus groups with older LGBTQ+ people. We will identify key themes relevant to improving social care assessments for older LGBTQ+ people, including what is working well and suggestions for improving services.

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 council to help improve services. If you want to hear more about the study after the interviews, 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.

How will we use information about you?

We will need to use information from you for this research project. 

This information will include your name and contact details. The research team will be the only people able to access these details. People who do not need to know who you are will not be able to see your name or contact details. We will identify your data using a code number.

We will keep all information about you safe and secure. 

Once we have finished the study, we will keep some of the data so we can check the results. We will write our reports in a way that no-one can work out that you took part in the study.

What are your choices about how your information is used?

  • You can stop being part of the study at any time during the data collection process which ends on 1st January 2023, without giving a reason, but we will keep information about you that we already have.
  • We need to manage your records in specific ways for the research to be reliable. This means that we won’t be able to let you see or change the data we hold about you. 

Where can you find out more about how your information is used?

You can find out more about how we use your information 

Are there any risks in taking part?

There are no specific risks expected, though in specific circumstances we may need to break confidentiality (see below). Regardless, you can always take breaks during the interview, or you can stop completely at any time.

Confidentiality

Everything you say during the interview will be confidential. The only exception to this is if you tell us something that suggests you, or someone else, is at risk of harm. If that happens, we will need to share this information with others and we will tell you if we need to do this.

Your name, and anything else that might identify you, will not be used in any dissemination activity. We may use direct quotes from your interview, but we will use a pseudonym (and you can help us choose one for you). Or if you prefer, you can take part but withhold your agreement for direct quotes to be used.

Any personal identifiable information (e.g., name and contact details) will be kept up to the end of the project, October 2023, and then destroyed. Anonymised interview transcripts will be securely stored and may be used for other future research purposes but only by members of the same research team. It will not be shared with anyone else.

What do I do next?

Taking part is voluntary.

  • If you don’t want to take part, you don’t have to do anything. You may receive one more reminder about the study, but the research team do not have your personal details and will not contact you directly.
  • If you do want to take part, please get in touch with the research team by emailing Dr Dora Jandric, the research fellow on the project. 
  • If you would like further information before you decide, please contact Dr Jason Schaub. Jason is leading the study and would be happy to answer your questions.

Dr Jason Schaub
Lecturer in Social Work
Department of Social Work and Social Care
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Email: j.schaub@bham.ac.uk

 

The study is being conducted by researchers at University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Manchester, and Opening Doors. It is funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research. The study has received ethical approval from The Social Care Research Ethics Committee (22/IEC08/0007). If you have any concerns or complaints about this study and would like to speak to an independent person who is not a member of the research team, contact the University of Birmingham Research Governance Office at researchgovernance@contacts.bham.ac.uk.