Shari Brotman

McGill University | McGill · School of Social Work

This article reports on a series of Stakeholder Outreach Forums hosted in Canadian communities from 2018 to 2019. These forums built on a previous research project, The Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants, which sought to amplify the voices of older immigrants through Photovoice and life course narratives analyzed through an intersectional life c...

Résumé Malgré l’attention renouvelée de plusieurs médias sur la question des risques liés à la COVID-19 au sein de diverses communautés marginalisées au Québec, nous entendons encore très peu parler des personnes âgées immigrantes et de leurs proches. Dans cette note sur les politiques et pratiques, nous aborderons l’expérience du contexte pandémiq...

Community accountability is a model through which to redress anti-Black racism in health care and to create community-based participatory research about the health of Black Canadians. This article provides a case example of a study undertaken by a Black community collective in Quebec made up of researchers, activists, service providers, business le...

This paper contributes to the growing body of work on precarious labor, immigration, and social gerontology by examining the racialization of precarious employment across the life course. In particular, the authors examine the impact of precarious employment and discrimination among racialized older immigrants in Canada. Racialized older immigrants...

This chapter tells the story of Josie, a gender-non-conforming, queer woman living with chronic illness and disability. A feminist narrative methodology elicits Josie’s description of her experiences of school, health care and the ways in which she negotiates sexual and gender identity and expression in the context of the many challenges she experi...

This commentary addresses barriers to care among older adults living with neurodiversity (ND), and their aging family carers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Factors contributing to inequities are described and the significant negative consequences of current policy decisions on the social and mental health of older adults with ND...

This qualitative study employed a cross sectional focus group design to explore how older gay men living with HIV, experience, perceive, and engage with advance care planning (ACP). Seven gay men 50+, residing in Montreal, Canada, participated in a focus group that was audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Findings suggested that...

Older HIV-positive gay men live at the intersection of multiple inequalities—with cascading effects on their present and future lives. This qualitative study explored how they plan for their future, with a focus on Advance Care Planning—the process of reflecting/communicating preferences and values for future health and end-of-life care. Seven Fren...

Cette brève politique se base sur les discussions issues d'une activité de rencontre qui a eu lieu le 16 octobre 2019, au 7000 avenue du Parc, à Montréal. Cette table ronde collective avait comme thématique principale le logement et les personnes âgées immigrantes et a réuni plus de 62 participant.e.s. À chaque table, entre 8 et 12 participant.e.s...

This report presents the results of a series of Stakeholder Outreach Forums held over 2018-19 in four regions across Canada – Greater Montréal, Québec City, Calgary, and Greater Vancouver. The outreach forums provided an opportunity for discussion of issues faced by aging immigrants in Canada. The forums built upon a SSHRC Insight Development Gran...

Research points to a higher risk for social isolation and loneliness among new immigrant and refugee older adults. Our article draws from a research project that explored the everyday stories of ageing among 19 diverse immigrant older adults in Canada. To capture their experiences of loneliness and social isolation, we use four illustrative cases d...

Canadian, US, and UK public health and clinical research has identified barriers to health service access for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non-binary, and intersex (2SLGBTQ+) communities. While offering important insight into the health service experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ communities, this body of research only recently, and...

This article, reporting on a Canadian-based research project, tells the stories of three first- and second-generation, racialized, young women from immigrant families in order to illuminate their unique realities of intergenerational care and to better understand the role of gender, racialization, and migration in shaping their lived experiences of...

Research on racialized older immigrants does not fully acknowledge the interplay between the life course experiences of diverse populations and the structural conditions that shape these experiences. Our research team has developed the intersectional life course perspective to enhance researchers’ capacity to take account of the cumulative effects...

Based on findings from a Canadian-based study, this article examines the stories of young adult women carers. Young adult women caring for a parent or grandparent were interviewed using social network maps, participant-driven photography and care timelines. The findings reveal numerous impacts on the women’s lives, which we categorise according to...

Our work suggests that older immigrants have rights to social participation and inclusion that are undermined by policy across the life course. These dynamics can contribute to economic precarity, housing instability, and family disruption to name a few impacts - all which influence social isolation. However, older immigrants also demonstrate resil...

The objective of this presentation is to to share stories of diverse older immigrants’ experiences over the life course, as collected using life story narrative and photovoice methods, to illuminate - In which domains and how they respond to adversity - The types of adversity they have faced - The resources they have drawn on, and - The environment...

Illustrates some of the unique dimensions of social isolation for immigrant older adults, an increasingly significant subgroup of seniors in Canada. Draws on examples from the Lived Experiences of Aging Immigrants exhibit.

RÉSUMÉ Il est indispensable que les foyers de soins de longue durée (FSLD) soient sensibilisés aux besoins des aîné(e)s lesbiennes, gays, bisexuels et transgenres. Considérant que le degré d’intégration de stratégies recommandées en ce sens dans le secteur des FSLD est inconnu, cette étude qualitative canadienne vise à présenter les résultats de de...

Older adults living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at risk of experiencing difficulties in their intimate lives due to the combined effects of HIV and ageing. To date, little research has focused on the lived experience of sexuality. This article seeks to fill in the gap by documenting the challenges faced by this population with respe...

This paper presents the results of a narrative-photovoice project on the life stories of 18 older immigrants living in two Canadian provinces. The objective was to deepen our understanding of the diverse lived experiences of immigrant older adults (those who immigrated in later life and those who immigrated earlier and aged in Canada). Findings rev...

This paper illustrates the concept of reciprocity in the context of immigrant families. It recommends that the definition of reciprocity be extended in order to take account of the complexity and diversity of care that is experienced in immigrant communities. The authors examine reciprocal exchanges beyond the immediate family, render visible the s...

This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people. Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the authors suggest an analytic approach to better accoun...

Little is known about the home care context for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults, most of whom, like the general older adult population, prefer to stay in their home and community for as long as possible. The very limited LGBT-focused home care literature available suggests that there are unique concerns about providing c...

This article reports the findings of an exploratory study examining service provider perceptions and experiences of addressing sexuality and intimacy with women spousal caregivers. The caregiver–provider encounter is examined, and challenges faced by service providers in addressing sexuality are considered. Themes identified include ambivalence and...

As researchers in the field of diversity and aging, we share Williams et al.'s call for policymakers to pay attention to the experiences of family caregivers across a wider spectrum than that which currently operates in health and social care. This paper addresses the particular issues at play in interactions between caregivers from marginalized 1c...

This article tells the story of Josie, a gender non-conforming, young queer woman living with a disability. Through attention to critical moments and turning points in the participant’s lived experience of disability, sexuality, and gender, this study examines how intersecting identities both shape and are shaped by context and experiences of the b...

This article aims to contribute to social work scholarship about LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) migrants by drawing from a community based research project about the experiences of queer and trans refugees living in Canada. We aim to explore the findings from this project by employing critical intersectionality analysis, with a pa...

Using an adapted phenomenological approach, the current study explores older women's stories about the ways in which providing care to their spouse or partner has affected their sexual and intimate lives. Findings suggest that older women's sexual identities and experiences of sexuality are marked by both ageist constructions of "older woman as ase...

The population of people aged 50 and over represents a significant proportion of people living with HIV in Western nations. While the number of older people living with HIV is rapidly increasing in Canada, research originating in this country remains relatively scarce. This article therefore proposes to describe the impact of the intersection of HI...

Cet article explore les résultats d'un projet de recherche communautaire qualitatif sur les expériences intersectionnelles des réfugiés minorités sexuelles vivant à Montréal et Toronto. Menée entre 2007 à 2010, cette étude a examiné les expériences des réfugiés minorités sexuelles, incluent leur immigration au Canada ainsi que leur processus de dét...

Women's health research strives to make change. It seeks to produce knowledge that promotes action on the variety of factors that affect women's lives and their health. As part of this general movement, important strides have been made to raise awareness of the health effects of sex and gender. The resultant base of knowledge has been used to infor...

Social workers have an ethical and professional responsibility to promote social justice and equality for oppressed groups, including sexual minorities. Advocating for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage is one way to enact this responsibility. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage is a significant accomplishment toward equality for gay...

Résumé Plusieurs recherches ont porté sur les solidarités à l’égard des proches avec incapacités chez les familles de minorités ethnoculturelles. Ces recherches ont permis de constater une grande valorisation des solidarités familiales, une prestation importante de soins et un faible recours aux services chez ces familles. Toutefois, la plupart des...

This article reports on the findings of a study whose purpose was to explore the experiences of caregivers of gay and lesbian seniors living in the community and to identify issues that emerged from an exploration of access to and equity in health care services for these populations. The study used a qualitative methodology based upon principles of...

This article reports the findings of a study, undertaken in 2000, whose purpose was to gather information about the experiences and realities of gay and lesbian seniors and their families from across Canada in accessing a broad range of health and social services in the community, and to examine the role of health care and social service organizati...

Over the past decade, policymakers and practitioners in the field of aging have been increasingly challenged to develop appropriate health and social services for elders from diverse ethnic communities. This has largely resulted from concerns regarding the significant barriers to care faced by disenfranchised elders. However, advances in the articu...

This article examines the question of how universities can be encouraged to address the mental health concerns of GLBT-SQ people and communities from a perspective of solidarity. In so doing, the authors take a case study approach, using Project Interaction: The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirit Initiative of McGill University's School of Socia...

This paper documents the experiences of Two-Spirit people, both within society generally and in the context of health and health care. Findings of a national qualitative research study on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and Two-Spirit people's health care are reported with particular attention placed upon Two-Spirit people's notions of identity and communi...

This paper documents the experiences of health care access among gay, lesbian, bisexual and Two-Spirit (glbt-s) people in Canada. In particular, it addresses the importance of coming out as glbt-s to the development of good health and appropriate care. The paper reflects upon the impact of hiding one's sexual orientation on glbt-s people's experien...

Although public and institutional policy states that the presence of family to provide care should not limit older people's access to public services, it does occur in practice. When family members are perceived as being able to contribute to the care of their elderly relatives, the frequency and duration of public sector support diminishes. This r...

The rate of population aging continues to be a serious preoccupation of health care professionals and policy makers. Much has been written about the potential impact of aging on the ability of the health and social service system to respond adequately to the increased demand placed upon it by the rapidly growing population of older people (Chappell...

Canadian lesbians of ethnic ancestry experience many identity struggles as a result of being in multiple situations within both their own ethnic communities and their chosen lesbian communities. The case study presented here used a life-history approach to explore these dynamics. The life and experiences of one lesbian of ethnic ancestry are examin...

RÉSUMÉ Cet article met en lumière l'incidence de pauvreté chez les personnes âgées au Canada en relevant les taux de pauvreté chez les femmes et les hommes provenant de sept différents groupes ethniques représentant les populations blanches ethniques et celles de minorités visibles (d'origines chinoise, autochtone, ukrainienne, juive, noire, grecqu...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2000. Includes bibliographical references.