Author(s): Rachel Zelizer, Cibely Leon, Julia Malloy
Mentor(s): Lawrence Cheskin, Nutrition and Food Studies; Matthew Rossheim, Global and Community Health; Alison Evans Cuellar, Health Administration and Policy; Zimako Chuks , Erika Kennedy , Graduate Assistants
Abstract
This project focused on LGBT+ college students experiences of social relationships and accessing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a mixed-methods approach, collecting quantitative data through an initial survey to collect demographic information and determine eligibility, and then conducting semi-structured interviews. The interviews were an hour long and polled LGBT+ students on the academic, social, financial, and mental impacts of the pandemic. A total of 47 responses were collected, and 20 randomly selected interviews were coded for patterns. Overall, participants noted that they experienced significant isolation and worsening of mental health during the pandemic. Additionally, many indicated a lower perception of the availability and quality of healthcare during the pandemic, but many participants did not experience any change in healthcare access. Many participants also noted a reliance on romantic partners for emotional and social support, and a few participants realized their sexual orientation or gender identities during the pandemic. Our findings will allow George Mason to better understand the impact of COVID on the LBGT+ student population and allow for the creation of interventions on campus to support student success.
Julia: This presentation is on COVID-19’s impact on LGBT+ college students and their healthcare access and social relationships. So not all people were affected equally by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we know the LGBTQ+ population was at higher risk, so we wanted to study this particular population to see what the effect was compared to the general population.
Cibely: So our main research question is: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the LGBTQ+ community’s access to quality healthcare, social relationships, and mental health? So for our methodology, we started off by handing out questionnaires to any sort of participant that wanted to reach out and be a part of the study, and once these questionnaires were filled out we indicated whether or not they were eligible to participate. Once they were eligible, we went ahead and scheduled them for an hour long interview with both open and closed ended questions, spanning from six categories. And after each interview, we then completed a transcription based on the recording, focusing specifically on the LGBTQ+ community. We then coded each transcription for the primary themes, which included LGBT+ Challenges, Social Relationships, Mood/Mental Health, and Healthcare Access. And once we had those codes, we went ahead and drew conclusions from the codes to answer our research question.
Rachel: So this is the demographic breakdown of our participant population that we drew our samples from. Our participants were between the ages of 19 and 25, and had spent between 2 and 7 years in college. The majority of our participants reported their race as white, but we did have a large asian and pacific islander group, as well as significant Hispanic, Black, and other population groups. Within the categories offered for sexual orientation, participants mainly identified as bisexual, but there were significant gay and lesbian, questioning, and other populations as well. In terms of gender, the majority of our participants identified as female, but we did have significant male and other populations. And finally, our participants were from a variety of economic backgrounds, with the majority reporting they only had to worry about money for fun and extras, but with significant populations reporting that they had just enough money to get by or they did not have to worry about money. Within our data analysis, we did identify four primary themes, namely Social Relationships, Mood/Mental Health, and Healthcare Access, and LGBT+ Challenges, and you can pause here if you would like to see the secondary themes we identified as well. In terms of LGBT+ challenges, our participants reported that they felt distanced from the religion they had grown up with as a result of their sexuality being viewed as sinful, with one participant also reporting that they had experienced religious-based conversion therapy that had also served as a distancing factor from both their religion and their family. Many participants also relied on their romantic partners as a form of emotional and social support, which did increase after the lockdown in March of 2020. Several participants also reported realizing their sexual orientation, their gender identity, or both over the course of the pandemic, in part due to increased moments of self-reflection.
Julia: With basically everyone we talked to, people reported a lack of friendships and feeling isolated. The loss of clubs and other extracurricular activities make it hard for people to see people and to make new friends. People reported that their close friendships got stronger but that they lost touch with acquaintances. Partially due to the lack of social interaction, mental health got worse or decreased for everyone. One trend we noticed was disappointment at the college experience they were being given. Whatever your expectations for college, Zoom classes probably were not it, and many people felt that they had lost something.
Cibely: As for healthcare access, many participants actually felt burdened to try to go to their hospital and obtain treatment due to the peak moments of the pandemic where the number of cases were on the rise exponentially. And also many students were forced to live at home, which led to many being wary about entering healthcare facilities due to the possibility of them contracting the virus and then passing it on to their family members at home. There were also many participants who had difficulty obtaining certain doctors appointments and also many participants reported that they had a hard time accommodating to telemedicine. And also there’s another side of the spectrum, where many participants actually had no change in their healthcare access, nor did they have any delays in seeking care. And so the grand impact of this project is that through this research project, we were able to gain a better understanding of COVID-19’s impact on the George Mason student body, which allowed us to let the students have a voice and provide us with strategies and ideas to create interventions on campus to support students for their college success.
2 replies on “COVID-19’s Impact on LGBT+ College Students’ Healthcare Access and Social Relationships”
Hi Rachel, Cibely, and Julia! Great presentation!
Did you all notice any trends in the responses in social relationships part from the participants who had been in college longer than the other participants, specifically when it came to Pre vs. Post Pandemic relationships and expectations of college? I was curious if those who had been in college closer to the 7 year mark also felt like they were missing out on the college experience, or in general how those reflections might be comparable to those of a student who has only been in college for 2 years, and hasn’t had as much of a ~traditional~ college experience. Thanks!
Really great question! The students who had been in college longer tended to express more regret at how their college experiences had ended in a non-traditional way, as well as an increase in social isolation, whereas newer students did tend to talk more about lacking a traditional college experience and the difficulty they had in establishing relationships. So there was absolutely a clear trend of grief over an unexpected end or unexpected beginning of college depending on the student’s year.