Critical reflections and reflexivity on responding to the needs of LGBTQ+ youth in a global pandemic.

Gio Iacono,Shelley L Craig,Rachael Pascoe

doi:10.1177/1473325020981080

Gio Iacono, Shelley L Craig + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325020981080

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Abstract

The global community has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. LGBTQ+ (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc.) youth may face increased stressors amidst the pandemic given their significant mental and sexual health disparities, pervasive rejection — including quarantining in homes with heightened risk of abuse and victimization, and a lack of access to essential resources. Responsive supports are needed at this time for vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth, particularly tailored mental health supports. This critical reflexive paper will highlight, as qualitative social work researchers and practitioners, the swift response to the needs of vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth across Canada during this pandemic. We provide a transparent account of how we have utilized critical reflexivity, cultivated through qualitative research, to support LGBTQ+ youth. This article will elucidate the importance of critical reflexivity in effectively transitioning essential offline mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth to a technology-mediated mental health affirmative intervention. The aim of this paper is to provide qualitative researchers and practitioners practical direction through important insights gleaned by supporting marginalized LGBTQ+ youth during particularly trying times such as a global pandemic.

Highlights

The global community has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic
Recent research in the US reveals that LGBTQþ communities are more likely to have experienced a cut in work hours compared to the general population, and are twice as likely to believe their finances will be worse off in one year compared to the general population (HRCF, 2020b)
As social work researchers and practitioners, who were already responding to the needs of LGBTQþ youth offline in the community through the implementation of affirmative cognitive-behavioral group interventions (i.e., AFFIRM) (Craig et al, 2019), we decided to swiftly respond to the needs of vulnerable youth by offering AFFIRM online to LGBTQþ youth across Canada

Summary

Introduction

The global community has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. LGBTQþ youth may need to quarantine in hostile family situations where they may experience abuse and victimization due to their sexual and gender minority identities (HRCF, 2020a) All of these factors may disproportionately impact the wellbeing and mental health of vulnerable LGBTQþ youth across the globe. As social work researchers and practitioners, who were already responding to the needs of LGBTQþ youth offline in the community through the implementation of affirmative cognitive-behavioral group interventions (i.e., AFFIRM) (Craig et al, 2019) , we decided to swiftly respond to the needs of vulnerable youth by offering AFFIRM online to LGBTQþ youth across Canada While this response came with much anxiety, given the difficult reality of the newly announced pandemic, we knew that responding to the needs of vulnerable

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