Connecting the Community of LGBTQ+ Elders: Organizational Adaptation during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Overview: This presentation seeks to describe how LGBTQ+ senior centers facilitated organizational adaptation during the pandemic. Focus groups with SAGE senior center employees and program facilitators were conducted. Data identified resiliencies and barriers for maintaining community, providing vital services, and mitigating isolation with LGBTQ+ elders served by the organization.Proposal text: The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented change in human service organizations, particularly amongst those organizations specifically dedicated to serving older adults (Marmo, Pardasani & Vincent, 2021; Christianson, 2021). In March of 2020, COVID-19 recommendations, and reductions in service capacity for many senior serving organizations, contributed to widespread discontinuation of services for many elders in the United States (Williams et al, 2021). Marginalized older adults such as those from the LGBTQ+ community, experience higher risk of isolation and higher risk of experiencing a decline in overall health compared to non-LGBTQ+ older adults (Yang, Chu & Salmon, 2018). Thus, strong community connection and adaptability to crisis are especially needed during a pandemic.
SAGE, the first publicly funded senior advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ older adults in the US, was able to transition to virtual services and programming within days after the start of the pandemic. Immediate and long-term organizational changes were required to transition from in-person frontline work to new conditions of virtual work. Overwhelmingly, case managers, social workers and frontline workers who were most capable of adaptation to virtual work, became perhaps the most valuable resource to continue the work of the organization and best serve the community. Using a Resource Based Theory framework (Hitt, Arregle, & Holmes, 2020), the purpose of this presentation is to report on a study undertaken in the summer of 2021 to identify facilitators and barriers to organizational adaptation in LGBTQ+ senior centers during the pandemic.
RESULTS
Focus groups were conducted with senior center employees and program facilitators to better understand the experiences of SAGE senior center front line workers and their perceptions of organizational change, sense of community and adaptation.
• Thematic results of focus group data with Sage Center program facilitators revealed a strong sense of mutual support between the organization, facilitators, and the community they serve. Themes identified in focus group data analysis included: 1) interconnectedness, 2) adaptation (micro, mezzo, macro), 3) virtual programming preferences and 4) some not served.
• Thematic results of staff focus group data revealed a more challenging experience with organizational changes. Themes identified included: 1) communication (with sub themes of top down and bottom-up) 2) personal/professional boundaries 3) unmet needs and 4) future planning.

IMPLICATIONS
A better understanding of senior serving organizations such as SAGE, that demonstrate organizational resilience and an ability to successfully respond to, and adapt to, change can be beneficial to other elder service providers, especially those who serve high-risk populations. LGBTQ+ senior centers are essential services for maintaining community, providing vital resources and mitigating isolation for vulnerable older adults. Further investment in training and supportive services for front line workers in LGBTQ+ elder advocacy organizations can help preserve these valuable resources and improve organizational culture, which will in turn positively impact LGBTQ+ seniors.