CANCELLED / Queer Minds Scotland Panel: Older LGBTQIA+ Experiences of Mental Health

Several studies have shown that older LGBTQ+ people feel loneliness more acutely than their straight and cis counterparts due to various social factors. In thinking about this, we have invited a group of speakers to discuss their research on ageing LGBTQ+ populations and experience of combatting social isolation through community organisation. Prof. Trish Hafford-Letchfield (she/her), University of Strathclyde, brings decades of research on ageing and the LGBTQ+ population to the panel, complemented by PhD researcher Zander McGuchan Johnston (he/him), Glasgow Caledonian University, whose project looks at community-based interventions into social isolation and loneliness in older members of the LGBTQ+ community. We also invite two members of the Culture Club Collective, a Glasgow-based 50+ LGBTI social support group, Jay Andrew (she/her) and Maddi Cassell (they/them) who will talk about their involvement with the Collective and their reasons for joining the Club.

In this session, we will think about the importance of being social as we age, why connection and community are important to maintaining good mental health and wellbeing and the importance of having intergenerational conversations and learning lessons from history.

The panel will be chaired by Dr Cole Collins, University of Glasgow, and Beth Meadows, Glasgow Caledonian University - as the Queer Minds Scotland network.