Karen Fredriksen Goldsen Publishes “Aging With Pride” Study Update
Posted: 4/15/2019 (CSDE Research)
“This is a call to action,” CSDE Affiliate and Professor of Social Work Karen Fredriksen Goldsen said to The Seattle Times, underscoring the gravity of social isolation for LGBTQ seniors. For the past deacade, Fredriksen Goldsen has conducted the first, national longitudinal study of aging members of the LGBTQ community, called Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender. Fredriksen Goldsen has surveyed 2,450 LGBTQ people between the ages of 50 and 102 on an every-other-year basis.
Published in The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, her latest article examines the evolution of this landmark study and explores the well-being of LGBTQ adults aged 80 years and older (n = 200). Based on the Iridescent Life Course, authors examined the diverse, intersectional nature of LGBTQ older adults’ lives, finding high levels of education and poverty. They found that microaggressions were negatively associated with quality-of-life and positively associated with poor physical and mental health.
Fredriksen Goldsen has founded a non-profit LGBTQ senior center on Capitol Hill called the GenPride Center that provides community and activities for older LGBTQ people. The City of Seattle just awarded GenPride $200,000 to develop nutrition, recreation and socialization programs. She has also announced an April 25 lecture at the Frye Museum Auditorium called “Linking Lives: Disrupting the Cycle of Social Isolation,” which sold out in a day.