TMU’s CARE Lab: Advancing health equity in addiction treatment for transgender and gender diverse people
Dr. Sarah Dermody (she/her), associate professor in the Department of Psychology, leads the Clinical Addictions Research and Equity (CARE) Lab. The CARE lab adopts a comprehensive approach to health, combining psychological, behavioural, interpersonal and biological factors. This multidisciplinary approach helps to better understand the complexities of addiction, including the conditions that precipitate it, factors that increase risk, and other adverse health behaviours.
The lab’s research focuses primarily on harmful consumption patterns associated with alcohol and nicotine products. The combined use of alcohol and cigarettes significantly amplifies health risks, underscoring the urgency to reduce or stop their use, particularly among individuals within sexual and gender minority groups, who are disproportionately affected by these substances and the consequent health ramifications.
"We hope this research can improve the visibility of transgender and gender diverse people's health care needs,” said Dr. Sarah Dermody. “It is crucial that we embrace the gender diversity of Canadians, and transform our health care systems to provide optimal gender-inclusive care to prevent harms caused by alcohol use."
The CARE Lab is leading several studies to improve our understanding of alcohol use and the harms experienced by transgender and gender diverse people. Transgender and gender diverse people are at risk of experiencing stressors in their everyday lives, such as discrimination, victimization and transphobia, which the lab refers to as gender minority stress. The lab is interested in understanding how gender minority stress may increase the risk for alcohol use and related harms. The goal of the CARE Lab is to advocate for adequate clinical support for these marginalized populations through clinical and social research.
The CARE lab has been awarded $586,000 from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (external link) for a series of studies aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of stressors on transgender and gender diverse individuals throughout their lives. In a study of 40 transgender and gender diverse youth, the lab has identified that daily gender minority stressors are related to increases in alcohol craving, desires to drink to cope with stress and alcohol use.
Theo Quinn (he/they), Lab Manager at the CARE Lab, reflects on his experience, “I've had the privilege and honour to connect with trans youth across this country and listen to their stories: stories about their struggles in navigating how to access gender-affirming care, stories about being rejected by friends and family, stories about feeling alone and othered. As a trans person myself, sometimes this work can be really emotionally draining; not only because I can often relate to the experiences shared, but it's disheartening to listen to these stories and then at the end of the day, be bombarded by anti-trans rhetoric that causes harm.” Quinn continues, “But I want to be clear, this work is incredibly healing and emotionally uplifting. I get to hold space for community connection and peer support, I hear stories about radiant trans joy and resilience, and we exchange resources and gender affirming practices. For me, this isn't just research for research’s sake, it's community care.”
Researchers at the CARE Lab are actively recruiting 100 transgender and gender diverse adults to further investigate these connections, intending to use these findings to develop gender-inclusive care strategies that can help transgender and gender diverse individuals reduce the impact of alcohol use on their daily lives. Learn more about the research participant opportunity.