Using a Social Justice Research Approach in Partnering with Older LGBT Community Members with Serious Illness

Dr. Elk is a Professor in the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and an AAHPM Fellow. Throughout her 30-year career, her focus has always been on researching strategies to reduce health disparities. For the past fifteen years she has conducted research in full partnership with minoritized communities using the Community Based Participatory Research (CBRP) approach, an evidence-based approach that in which community members are equal partners in the process.

• In equitable partnership with a group of older African American community members in the South, she conducted a study that created the first ever training FOR clinicians developed BY the community “African American Communities Speak to Healthcare Providers.” It is based on the community’s cultural and religious values and lived experience of bias and disrespect in the healthcare system. To date, more than 500 healthcare professionals from over 50 healthcare settings have participated in this 3-hour training. Clinicians reported high levels of confidence in being able to change their practice to follow the community’s recommendations.
• Elk leads a national training and mentoring program in CBPR. Training takes place for 4 days via zoom every July. This is followed by mentoring for anyone who wants to write a study proposal based on community-engaged approaches. Scholarships are available for the program for those focusing on older adults.

“My passion is “hearing and truly listening to the voices of minoritized communities, so that, in full partnership, we can build healthcare programs based on each community’s cultural values, lived experiences and care preferences.”

Joi Miner (she/her; Birmingham, AL) is an author, poet, and advocate for LGBTQ+ people as well as sexual assault survivors. She is a member of several local and national Community Advisory Groups for the LGBTQ+ studies, where she advocates for inclusivity in language and proper admission of care for members of all ages across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. She has also participated in multiple community-based participatory research projects alongside Dr. Ronit Elk. She was an invited speaker alongside other community partners at the SGM Alliance’s LGBTQ+ Cancer Health Equity conference in 2024.