OUR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

 "Towards the Development of a Novel Mental Health Peer Support Intervention for Sexual Minority Women" 

University at Albany IRB Protocol/Study #23X214

Approved for Oct 2023- Oct 2028 

This phase of research and action focuses specifically on the experiences and needs of sexual minority women (e.g., non-heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, queer, same gender loving, and pansexual people who currently or fluidly consider themselves women) living in upstate New York.

SOLACE stands for Support, Opportunities for Learning, and Community Empowerment, which captures the spirit and goals of the project. "Solace", if you're not familiar, means comfort or consolation in times of anxiety, sadness, distress, grief, or misfortune. 

We recognize that sexual minority women have received much less attention in health and wellbeing research compared to sexual minority men. We also recognize that LGBTQ+ people living rurally, as many in upstate New York do, have less access to support services compared to those living in larger cities. We aim to center the most marginalized and least resourced women of the NY LGBTQ+ community in this project, including sexual minority women of color, bisexual, pansexual, and queer women, and those living rurally upstate. 

To work towards building a free mental health peer support training program to support the mental health and healing of LGBTQ+ women in upstate New York, the LGBTQ SOLACE research and action team we...  

• Interviewed 18 mental health service providers and other healers (e.g., therapists, social workers, nurse practioners, and others) about what they have seen help LGBTQ+ women and their communities heal. 
• Held 7 focus groups with 48 LGBTQ+ women who experience mental health challenges like depression and anxiety to learn more about what kinds of programs or support might be most helpful.
• Assembled a Project Advisory Board of a diverse group of 7 (and counting!) LGBTQ+ women to broadly oversee the development of a new mental health peer support program for LGBTQ+ women in upstate New York. This will help keep the project a collaborative effort involving both those in and outside of academia. 

At this time, we are currently analyzing the data from the interviews and focus groups to prepare to publish and share our results.

All of this is intended to launch the planning and developing of a free mental health peer support training program by and for LGBTQ+ women!  

The program will provide training on how to give and get mental health support as LGBTQ+ individuals within LGBTQ+ communities. Additionally, there will be opportunities for further mental health peer counselor training and certification for those considering a career in the mental health or social services fields.

"Pilot Trial of a Novel, Community-Derived Peer Mental Health Support and Suicide Prevention Training Program for Sexual Minority Women"

University at Albany IRB Protocol/Study #STUDY00006637

Aims 1& 2 approved for Dec 2025-Dec 2028

This phase of research and action focuses on collaboratively building and pilot testing a peer mental health support and suicide prevention training program for sexual minority women (e.g., non-heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, queer, same gender loving, and pansexual people who currently or fluidly consider themselves women) living in upstate New York.

To work towards building a free program to support the mental health and healing of LGBTQ+ women in upstate New York, the LGBTQ SOLACE research and action team we will...  

• Develop a structured, self-paced online training program and accompanying program guide for building peer mental health support skills 
• Conduct implementation assessments (interviews and focus groups) with stakeholders across upstate New York to identify multilevel facilitators and barriers to program adoption, implementation, and sustainment 
• Pilot-test the SMW peer suicide prevention and mental health-promotion training program for feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, sustainability, and preliminary clinical efficacy (Aim 3)
• Work in consultation with a Project Advisory Board of a diverse group of 7 (and counting!) LGBTQ+ women. This will help keep the project a collaborative effort involving both those in and outside of academia. We are currently recruiting. At this time, we are particularly looking for folks living and/or working in the North Country, Adirondacks, Central NY, and Finger Lakes.: https://albany.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_87I2IgkNF5foDeS  

More than anything, we need funding to make this happen. 

We are applying for grants to fund this next phase of work.

Learn more about how you can get involved!