Participate in Research
One of the goals of Rainbow Health Ontario is to encourage more research on LGBT health in Ontario. We invite LGBT people to consider participating in research that may be of benefit to the health of our communities.
We have reviewed the following research studies and we support the broad goals and objectives of these projects. The researchers who have listed their projects here have agreed to our Terms of Service.
All of these research projects have been reviewed by a Research Ethics Board at their respective academic institutions. These committees ensure that the research project meets specific guidelines including:
- Study participants give their informed consent to be part of the research
- The information provided by study participants is kept confidential
- Appropriate compensation is provided to study participants
- The information collected can only be used in specific ways
If you would like to know more about what a university-based ethical review process looks like, you can click here to see Canada’s Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.
If you participate in a research study and you have concerns about the collection or use of the information you provided, we encourage you to contact the ethics review committee at the respective institution.
Research Purpose:
Sexual and gender minority people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, are at high risk for depression and other mental health problems as a result of our experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Preliminary research has shown that despite high rates of mental health service use, LGBT people also report high rates of unmet need for mental health care. However, given the limited available data, we don’t know whether there are too few services to meet the existing needs or whether service providers don’t have skills to serve LGBT people or if both are true. What is clear is that improvements are needed to the mental health system in Ontario in order to ensure the needs of LGBT people are met.
Participants:
This call for applications is to find five people from diverse communities across the province to join the advisory committee for this project. We are looking specifically for lesbians, bisexual and queer women, and/or trans-identified people (of any sexual orientation) who have lived experience with the mental health system. Due to confidentiality and therapeutic issues only people who are not current or former clients of the service providers on the committee (Farzana Doctor, Hershel Russell, Albina Veltman) will be eligible to apply.
Application Process
Please prepare a short (1 page or less) letter to answer the following questions:
What would you hope to get out of participating in this project?
What skills and/or experiences (personal or professional) do you feel that you would bring to the project?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about what attracts you to this project?
Research Purpose:
1) to understand diversely situated trans health providers' experiences of their health and work and factors such as policy and gender dynamics that influence their lives; and
2) create strategies for change.
Participants:
1) Providers of health and social services in Canada who are over the age of 18 and self-identify as trans (e.g., transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, Aboriginal Trans people)
or
Cis-gendered providers of health and social service care for trans communities (i.e., those who do not identify as members of trans communities)
Research Purpose:
The goal of this qualitative community based participatory research project is to examine the experiences of LGBT people in Ontario who have used AHR services, including barriers and facilitators to access to care, quality of services received and differences across the identity groups of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people. This Ontario-based research project will ultimately inform Canada-wide research about the experiences of LGBT people with AHR services, in order to assist AHR service providers across the country in upholding the AHRA's non-discrimination clause.
Participants:
Individuals who identify as LGBT, who are over the age of 18, and have used AHR services or have thought about using AHR services in the past three years/currently using. Participants must be in Ontario (used or thought of using AHR services in Ontario) and must be able to speak and read English.
Research Purpose:
For my major research project as a part of the Masters of Human Resources Management program at York University, I would like to conduct a study of the LGBT community focusing on the disclosure of sexual orientation in the workplace. The study is intended to be interview-based, and I am looking to target Canadian business professionals / executives who are self-identified as LGBT and who have or have not disclosed their sexual orientation in the workplace.
Participants:
Participants should be self-identified LGBT business professionals. The participants could either be individuals who have already disclosed their sexual orientation within their organization or individuals who have not.
Research Purpose:
The purpose of this research is to understand the special concerns that gay men may have as they learn to live with the changes in quality of life and physical functioning that come with prostate cancer treatments. Besides struggling with the same changes in sexual, urinary, and bowel functioning that heterosexual men face, gay men may bear an additional burden. Some gay men, especially older men, may be less comfortable talking with their healthcare providers about same-sex relationships. This discomfort may also lead to not feeling comfortable in bringing their partners into talks with their doctors about treatment decisions. Gay men, particularly single gay men, may also lack a strong family support system to help them through their cancer diagnosis and treatment. The study will inform policy makers and health program staff about how to improve conditions for gay men with prostate cancer and what resources are needed by this understudied group of cancer survivors.
Participants:
To take part in the study, a man must…
-identify as gay / bisexual
-be diagnosed with localized prostate cancer within the last 4 years
-be able to read and speak English
-have access to internet and email
If men who take part in this study are currently in a relationship, their partner may also be eligible to complete a separate web-based survey about his experience as a partner of a man with prostate cancer.
