Members of the LBGTQIA+ community face many challenges in society. The healthcare industry is no exception. Due to the lack of education about the community, societal stereotypes, and hetero-normative ideas queer individuals do not get the proper care. To combat this inequality, current and future healthcare providers need to be educated on the community and their healthcare needs.
Currently, healthcare providers are allowed to refuse care to the LGBTQIA+ community based on religious/ethical beliefs. This not only prevents individuals from getting proper care, but it further creates stigma around the community. This also prevents many individuals from seeking care due to the fear and shame it implements. Members of this community have high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide which is further due to their inability to receive proper care. Queer individuals deserve the care received by heterosexual individuals. Healthcare providers should treat queer individuals like any other patient because they are human and deserve to be cared for.
One solution to decreasing these disparities is education. The Human Rights Campaign created the health-Care Index. This index was created to help health-care facilities be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive. The index includes information on patient nondiscrimination, employee nondiscrimination, and patient care training. It is vital that members of the queer community receive proper care from their providers. Stigma and stereotypes have caused many individuals to be denied care.
Sources:
Moran, C. I. (2021). LGBTQ Population
Health Policy Advocacy. Education for Health: Change in Learning &
Practice, 34(1), 19–21. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.4103/efh.EfH_243_18
I fully agree. Not only have I seen horrendous flippancy via working in healthcare myself, but I know of several accounts of friends within the LGBTQIA+ community feeling harmed during their healthcare visits by practitioners, staff, etc due to discrimination, lack of education, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs this disparity has been highlighted within the last few years, it is up to the medical institutions where we are employed, and the institutions by which we are learning, to implement LGBTQIA+ competency within their structure and curriculum.
Recently, University of Washington School of Medicine has implemented a student - driven curriculum which aims to train their medical students to provide competent, high-level care to members of the LGBTQIA+ community (Gibson et. al, 2020). This is an exciting beginning, but obviously still is the very tip of the iceberg. According to a 2019 panel including, but not limited to a Community Health Center in Washington, DC and community clinic leaders selected by the National LGBT Cancer Network, LGBTQIA+ cultural competency training should keep in mind the following:
1) Knowing your audience (Pratt-Chapman et. al, 2022)
2) Develop, and continuously fine tune your curriculum (Pratt-Chapman et. al, 2022)
3) Choose several effective trainers (Pratt-Chapman et. al, 2022)
4) Employ both adult and transformational learning theories (Pratt-Chapman et. al, 2022)
5) Evaluate the impact of the training (Pratt-Chapman et. al, 2022)
Additionally, it is up to us to push the importance of such education and competency. Whether it be on the level of small interactions we see every day that can be improved, or on the level of advocating for widespread implementation of such education and indexes within these institutions, we must work to push for equity for these groups.
Resources:
Gibson, A. W., Gobillot, T. A., Wang, K., Conley, E., Coard, W., Matsumoto, K., Letourneau, H., Patel, S., Merel, S. E., Sairenji, T., Whipple, M. E., Ryan, M. R., Morales, L. S., & Heinen, C. (2020). A Novel Curriculum for Medical Student Training in LGBTQ Healthcare: A Regional Pathway Experience. Journal of medical education and curricular development, 7, 2382120520965254. https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120520965254
Pratt-Chapman, M., Eckstrand, K., Robinson, K., Beach, L., Kamen, C., Keuroghlian, A., Radix, A., Bidell, M., Bruner, D., Margolies, L. (2022). Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual Persons: Consensus Recommendations from a National Panel. LGBT Health, 9(5), 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2021.0464