Including 2SLGBTQIA+ Patients in Arthritis Research
Making Arthritis Research More Inclusive
The Problem
People from the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities are often not included in arthritis research. Not considering the specific health needs and experiences of this group can lead to missed chances for providing the best possible care, or even cause unintended harm.
The Solution
Closing the current gap in knowledge by working collaboratively with 2SLGBTQIA+ communities to determine the most important research questions to explore to improve their health and healthcare experiences.
What the Study will do
By creating an Advisory Committee of community members, patients, clinicians, and researchers who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, this research will engage with these communities to better understand diverse perspectives on living with chronic pain. This will help generate new research questions.
Research Details
This study will recruit participants who may have different lived experiences with arthritis based on their sex assigned at birth, sexuality, gender, age, race, ethnicity, education level, occupation, place of residence, socioeconomic status, and experiences with disability.
The research team will explore how these multiple identities can impact one another and affect an individual’s experience with pain and arthritis.
By learning from the perspectives of people with lived experiences and building partnerships with communities, this research aims to uncover important information to explore in future research to better support the health needs and improve health outcomes for members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Research Scientist
Codie Primeau
Research Trainee, BScSAP, MSc, MPT, PhD
Dr. Codie Primeau (he/him) is a Banting CIHR, Michael Smith Health Research BC, and Arthritis Society Canada Postdoctoral Fellow at Arthritis Research Canada and the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. Linda Li. He previously completed a BSc in Human Kinetics (University of Ottawa – 2014), a research-based MSc in Kinesiology (Western University – 2016), and a combined clinical Masters of Physical Therapy (Western University – 2022) and PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Western University – 2022).
His research scope includes arthritis, physiotherapy, orthopedics, clinical biomechanics, health economics, and 2S/LGBTQQIA+ health. His graduate work primarily focused on clinical trials and observational studies, evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of exercise and surgical interventions in arthritis. He also led projects promoting 2S/LGBTQQIA+ health education and inclusion among physiotherapists and physiotherapy students across Canada.
In his current postdoctoral work, he is using an innovative methodology grounded in the principles of citizen science to maximize 2S/LGBTQQIA+ community engagement in the process of co-developing and co-prioritizing research questions related to pain. The aim is to develop research questions directly informed by community input and that are meaningful to the community. Additionally, he is working on projects focusing on the adoption of national guidelines for physical activity and sleep among rehabilitation professionals in the management of arthritis.
