The power of story: Bringing 2SLGBTQ+ digital stories into gerontology settings

ABSTRACT

Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer or questioning (2SLGBTQ+) older adults are underrepresented in gerontology research and education, impacting the preparedness of health and social care students and professionals working with the diverse aging population. To address this lack of representation of 2SLGBTQ+ older adults in gerontology education, this study explored the use of digital stories as tools for knowledge mobilization and social justice. Digital stories are short videos that pair audio recordings with visuals, including videos, photographs, or artwork. To conduct the study, the research team worked alongside 2SLGBTQ+ older adults to create a suite of three digital stories. These stories were presented at various educational and professional settings in gerontology, and survey and open-feedback responses (n = 147) were gathered from the audience on their perceived impact. Viewers included students, researchers, decision-makers, stakeholders, and citizens. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. From the analysis, digital stories showed the potential to increase viewers’ awareness and understanding of 2SLGBTQ+ aging experiences. The format was particularly significant in their learning and enhancing the connection to the content and the storytellers. The findings also suggest that digital stories showed the potential to impact policy and practice for 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

KEYWORDS:

• 2SLGBTQ+
• older adults
• digital stories
• knowledge mobilization
• social justice
• gerontology
• education

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Insight Development Grant.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. “Two-Spirit is a term that encompasses a broad range of sexual and gender identities of Aboriginal peoples across North America. While some use the term to refer specifically to the cultural roles of individuals who embody both female and male spirits, Two-spirit is also used to describe Aboriginal people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ)” (Hunt, 2016, p. 7).

2. These numbers should be interpreted with caution as some individuals may not be comfortable with disclosing or have not disclosed their sexual and/or gender identity. Further, there are challenges with large national data sets, such as issues with measuring sexual and gender identities, response bias, and the limited focus of existing surveys (Waite & Denier, 2019).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada