Funded by the Victorian Department of Health, Drummond Street Services’ Centre for Family Research and Evaluation (CFRE) delivered the LGBTIQA+ Mental Health and Wellbeing Project. The project aimed to develop a better understanding of the mental health and wellbeing needs of LGBTIQA+ people, as well as their experiences accessing service systems.
What we did
We used a mixed-methods research design to explore the following research questions:
- What are the mental health and wellbeing needs and risk factors of LGBTIQA+ people? How do these vary across LGBTIQA+ communities?
- How does discrimination, inequality and other forms of marginalisation impact the mental health and wellbeing needs of LGBTIQA+ people?
- What are the enablers and barriers for LGBTIQA+ people accessing services to support their mental health and wellbeing? How do these vary across LGBTIQA+ communities?
- How does Drummond Street respond to the needs of LGBTIQA+ clients?
- How could service provision be improved to better respond to the needs of LGBTIQA+ clients?
How we did it?
CFRE utilised a phased data analysis approach. Each stage of data collection, interpretation and review informed the next, with data analysis and reporting refined and clarified at each stage. The two key components of data collection included Drummond Street’s annual LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing survey and analysis of Drummond Street case files.
Our impact
Two key findings were identified throughout this project:
- The first finding sheds light on the pervasive nature of intersectional discrimination and its profound impact on LGBTIQA+ peoples’ mental health, social connectedness and financial wellbeing.
- The second, emphasised the complexity of needs and risks experienced by LGBTIQA+ people and the compounding impact of discrimination on these needs.
The findings from this report were synthesised to develop five core principles for effective service responses to support LGBTIQA+ people’s mental health and wellbeing; with a particular focus on how these principles can be considered as part of Victoria’s mental health reforms.
Download the report
Read the Full Final Report here: LGBTIQA+ Mental Health and Wellbeing: Key Findings and considerations.
For those of you who don’t have time to read the full report but would like an outline of the key findings and principles, please click through our interactive report below.