Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Communication and Information
Major Professor
Xiaohua Zhu
Committee Members
Suzie Allard, Joel Anderson, Bharat Mehra
Abstract
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender plus (LGBT+) people who are fifty years and older face aging-related information problems that non-LGBT+ older adults do not. Information Marginalization Theory (IMT) posits that many of the information problems marginalized people have are not a personal failure but rather a systemic—and at times intentional—one. IMT has been used to study how marginalized populations navigate through their information worlds despite additional barriers. This study seeks to understand how responsibility for combating information marginalization can be shifted from the populations experiencing it to the institutions who perpetuate it. This purpose is met by using a community-based participatory research design to create and implement a strategic plan with a large aging services organization in order to combat the aging services information marginalization experienced by LGBT+ older adults in East Tennessee. Utilizing concepts from IMT, this study asks LGBT+ older adults what they see as their aging-related needs, what barriers they see to getting those needs met, and what practices they would like to see providers use to help remove those barriers. Thematic analysis of interviews with 25 LGBT+ older adults in East Tennessee produced 5 need, 7 marginalization, and 4 practice themes which served as the basis for the strategic plan. Nineteen of those 25 interviewees discussed and finalized the strategic plan across 5 focus groups. Afterwards, elements from the plan were shared via a survey with aging services providers, public library staff, and representatives of LGBT+ serving organizations in the region in order to learn what barriers they believed this population had around aging and what organizational information practices they thought would help meet the needs raised by LGBT+ older adults. A constructivist grounded theory analysis of all of the interviews, focus groups, surveys, and the author’s participant researcher data resulted in an 8 point design and action framework for combating information marginalization that may be implemented with marginalized people in various contexts. This study contributes to a social justice understanding of action and design theory, expands action research methodology, and brings attention to a fast growing population that is understudied in many disciplines.
Recommended Citation
Winberry, Joseph William, ""People Have Died To Get Us To Where We Are": Combating Aging Services Information Marginalization Alongside LGBT+ Older Adults. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2023.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/11676
Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Gerontology Commons, Library and Information Science Commons
