Shoppers are turning to creative training, so housing and care staff in London tried an animated film made with older LGBTQ+ people and saw confidence and inclusive language use jump, showing a simple, human-led approach can make services safer and more welcoming.

Essential Takeaways

  • Clear results: Staff saying they regularly met LGBTQ+ residents’ needs rose from 55% to 85% after the training.
  • Higher confidence: Self-reported confidence in supporting LGBTQ+ people climbed from 77% to 95%.
  • Inclusive language: Use of inclusive language increased from 70% to 95%, and many staff began introducing pronouns.
  • Emotional impact: 71% of participants reported an emotional response; three-quarters named the animated format as most useful.
  • Room to grow: Most staff said they wanted further training, suggesting the film opened conversations rather than closed them.

A surprising tool: animation that makes staff feel, not just learn

The sharpest finding here is simple and human , a four-minute animated film made staff stop and feel. According to project leads at the University of Surrey, the animation reframed stories so workers noticed situations rather than appearances, and that shift seems to have nudged day-to-day practice. Staff described the material as emotionally striking, and managers reported visible changes in behaviour six to eight weeks later.

The Life House Impact Project deliberately moved away from policy slides and compliance checklists. Instead, older LGBTQ+ people helped create three composite characters whose experiences, dismissed partners, mocked pasts, intrusive questioning, mirror what many face in housing and social care. The result is training that uses narrative and character to land lessons more durably.

How theatrical workshops fed a short film with real voices

This wasn’t an agency brainstorm. Six older LGBTQ+ participants worked in applied-theatre workshops with the London Bubble Theatre Company to create the script, characters and recommendations. That grassroots development is central: when people shape the material, it carries authority that statistics alone rarely deliver.

The team then commissioned professional animators to bring Ritu, Peter and Rose to life. The animated form meant identities weren’t foregrounded visually, which study participants say reduced unconscious bias and kept attention on behaviour and impact instead.

Real change , and honest limits

The numbers are convincing: jumps in confidence and inclusive language use were substantial, and all 22 staff rated the sessions highly. But the project is candid about limits. Improvements in directly asking clients about pronouns or discussing identity with colleagues were smaller, and nine in 10 staff wanted more training to consolidate new habits.

Project leads frame that as a positive: the training begins conversations rather than pretending a single session solves deep-seated issues. Expect more follow-up, routine inclusion in EDI provision, and attempts to scale the approach across housing and care sectors.

Practical takeaways for providers and managers

If you run a care home or housing service, a few practical points stand out. Short, emotionally engaging material can be slipped into mandatory training and is more likely to be remembered. Use community-led storytelling to surface real concerns, pair film with facilitated discussion, and follow up with practical prompts , for instance, practice introducing pronouns in team huddles, or roleplay how to ask about a resident’s preferred language about partners and relationships.

And don’t assume one session is enough. Make training iterative: initial exposure, coached practice, and brief refreshers will help translate feelings into steady behaviours.

Why this matters for older LGBTQ+ people

Older LGBTQ+ people often tell researchers they shrink or hide in care settings where they once felt authentic. According to the project team, housing and social care should be places of safety, not spaces where people feel forced back into the closet. This intervention shows a modest, replicable way to reduce invisibility and harm , by centring real testimony and then turning it into everyday habit.

The experiment doesn’t claim to end discrimination overnight, but it does suggest that when staff feel the human cost, they’re likelier to act differently.

It's a small change that can make care feel safer and more human.

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