Dr. Lauren Selingo has joined the Community Practice Lab, bringing a wealth of experience supporting adults as they navigate queer identity, mental health, and changes in substance use throughout life. As a CPL lead, Lauren is collaborating with CPL partners to create community-embedded supports around substance use for older adults and caregivers in Orange County.
“I am incredibly thrilled and energized to be collaborating and working alongside such an amazing interdisciplinary team who is so deeply devoted to their communities here at the CPL,” said Lauren.
Lauren joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in fall 2024 as an assistant professor in the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Prior to receiving a PhD in 2024 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Lauren practiced as an occupational therapist in skilled nursing facility and inpatient mental health settings.
“I was working with folks who were struggling with substance use, and I was frustrated by the lack of community and health care supports,” said Lauren. “I wanted to create more spaces for non-stigmatized and non-intensive supports, both within the health care system and in community spaces.”
To address these gaps in practice, Lauren’s doctoral dissertation employed participatory action research methodologies, including photovoice and phenomenological interviews, to explore queer women’s lived experiences with substance use. Participants reflected on a broad range of topics, such as performances of gender identity, impacts of stigma, and correlation of substance use and confidence. Lauren also facilitated dialogue among co-researchers and practitioners to amplify queer women’s lived knowledge and develop community supports.
Lauren continues to engage adults around substance use across the lifespan. Through the CPL, Lauren has partnered with the Orange County Department on Aging (OCDOA) to explore older adults’ lived experiences surrounding substance use, caregiver supports, and other community and health care support services. Facilitated by a community advisory board, Lauren and the OCDOA team will build supportive, accessible, and feasible programming that meets the needs of older adults and their caregivers. Following successful implementation in Orange County, Lauren plans to apply this approach in other North Carolina communities.
As Lauren develops relationships with older adults, caregivers, and community partners supporting older adults in the Triangle, she hopes to continue to engage multiple generations of queer women around substance use.
“As a member of the queer community myself, I recognize that our queer elders may have had different experiences with substance use than more recent generations,” said Lauren. “I’m interested in how intersectional and intergenerational dialogue and treatment can support queer folks across the lifespan.”
Lauren also joins CPL team members in sustaining and growing community partnerships, mentoring graduate students completing community-based projects around aging, employing participatory action research methods, and amplifying knowledge in academic and community spaces.
Lauren is excited to be back in North Carolina with her husband, Nick, and their “fluff babies,” cats Shlomo and Belle and dog Akili. She is looking forward to further building connections with local communities. In her free time, Lauren enjoys exploring local restaurants and hunting ghosts.