The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population has recently become a national health care priority. There are specific health care disparities and barriers to quality health care that significantly affect the LGBT population. A change in medical education curriculum is essential to combat these issues. Health care providers feel undereducated and ill prepared to treat the LGBT population. Research findings indicate there is a significant deficiency in medical education regarding specific LGBT health concerns. Multiple medical and nursing schools have offered LGBT health care focused educational sessions. Evaluation of these courses has shown effectiveness in changing attitudes, increasing knowledge, and improving the clinical skills and comfort level of health care providers. Addressing all aspects of LGBT health issues and utilization of LGBT standardized patients is essential for success. Inclusion of LGBT health concerns into core curriculum will augment the success of these seminars. Using this information, Physician Assistant programs can change their curriculum to address the specific needs of the LGBT population.
Introduction More recently, there has been increased awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health issues. There are specific health concerns that affect the LGBT population more commonly when compared to the heterosexual population. Additionally, the LGBT population experience significant inequalities in
Health disparities in the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender community that lack fair treatment. This population deals with many adversities due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT’s community consists of a diverse population of people who come from all walks of life ((Howard, 2016). Many LBGT’s will delay or not seek health care due to stigma and lack of fair treatment. In other words, they believe that they are discriminated against.
The mental health of individuals in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community is something that is a serious problem. For most of the history of the United States and many different parts of the world LGBT people faced much persecution and in some cases even death. This constant fear of discovery and the pressure that one feels on oneself when “in the closet” can lead to major mental distress. Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT are twice as likely to develop lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (Bostwick 468). This is extremely noticeable the past couple years in the suicides of bullied teens on the basis of sexual identity and expression. The stigma on simply being perceived as LGBT is strong enough to
Regarding access to healthcare, transgender individuals often face the most obstructive barriers when attempting to receive care. Whether they are seeking access to hormones, therapy, general health services, reproductive healthcare, or specialty healthcare, transgender patients typically cannot get what they need without jumping through many hoops or hiding their identities. This occurs especially so in cases of intersecting identities -- where an individual is not just transgender, but is transgender and a person of color, disabled, gay, indigenous, undocumented, poor, etc. These intersecting identities interact in multifaceted ways to produce even more barriers for trans individuals seeking healthcare due to healthcare provider bias, insurance requirements, and doctors’ general unwillingness to help coupled with inaccessibility founded on racism, transphobia, homophobia, mental illness stigmatization, etc.
Relocating into a senior care facilities can be a frightening experience for the aging population. Getting familiar with new surroundings, new organization structure, and new people that can cause anxiety to rise. For a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer individual, this experience can be traumatic. The fear of harassment, hostility, and neglect by healthcare providers and caretakers can keep LGBTQ people from seeking care until their health begins to critically decline. LGBTQ cultural competency training is highly recommended for healthcare professionals and social service organizations. The greatest barrier that prevents quality health care for LGBTQ people is the lack of competence among the healthcare professionals.
The transgender population often have complicated medical needs and encounter numerous health disparities including discrimination, lack of access to quality health care and social stigma. Some health disparities include various chronic diseases, cancers, as well as mental health issues (Vanderbilt University, 2017). Transgender individuals are at increased risk of HIV infection with their rates being reported “over four times the national average of HIV infection, with higher rates among transgender people of color (Grant, Mottet, Tanis, 2011).” In addition, they usually do not have health insurance (Makadon, 2017) and have a lower probability of preventative cancer screenings in transgender men (AMSA, 2017).
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) falls within societal minority groups such as low income, people of color, and disables (AHRQ, 2011). Due to their gender identity, discrimination, violence, and even denial of human rights and healthcare services is a common challenge among LGBT population. LGBT still faces many health disparities primarily related to the historic bias of healthcare professionals anti-LGBT manners even though society acceptance has been favorable. According to Ard and Makadon (n.d), “until 1973, homosexuality was listed as a disorder…, and transgender still is.” This stigma prevents healthcare professionals to openly ask questions in a non-judgmental manner related to sexual identity. On the other hand, if the patient senses that the healthcare environment is discriminating they may be reluctant to disclose important information as their sexual orientation; thus, missing important opportunities of been educated about safety and health care risks.
This decision has affected people’s behavior as individuals and public institutions such as family, young, elderly, disabled, LGTB and those with pre-existing conditions. For example, Kates & Ranji (2014) report that health care access and coverage for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGTB) community in the U.S. face opportunities and challenges when getting access to care. The authors report that LGBT individuals experience some discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, due to ongoing discrimination, access to health care have been limited to these people (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). LGBT individuals not only face discrimination when trying to receive care, but also face difficulties that limit them such as “barriers in obtaining insurance coverage, gaps in coverage, cost-related hurdles, and poor treatment by health care providers” (Kates & Ranji, 2014).
The Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning group are more likely affected by health disparities because they are more diverse group. LGBTQ community "has many racial/ethnic and socioeconomic background which are referred to as a sexual and gender
America is a country built on the ideals and morals of freedom and equality and the hopes that it is attainable to all. Yet more than 111 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people in America are still denied state level protections against discrimination in the workplace (Halloran 5). One of the most important things in sustainable development is achieving LGBTQ equality. It would improve the lives of many people across the country. Achieving equal health care and other services for LGBTQ people reduces transmission and progression of disease, which would lead to an overall healthier community.
n and Gay individuals with time had made quite an impact on healthcare policy and vice versa. It went from prohibited to being legal statewide since 2011. Many activists, interest groups, individuals, etc. have pushed to make an influence on policymaking for these Lesbian and Gay individuals to have the same level of quality as any other person in healthcare. There are individuals whom are for it, and against it. I shall explain further by providing both point of views and by using (3) three different resources. ACA (Accountability Care Act) opened its door to provide the proper assistance for the Lesbian and Gay individuals to be free of any disparities is simply just the beginning more needs to be done before they start to finally receive the quality care that these individuals deserve.
Sexual and social stigmas largely affect the health of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. While many reports from the Institute of Medicine, Healthy People 2020 and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recognize a need to improve the quality of health care, barriers still remain. LGBT patients face legal discrimination, especially with insurance, a lack of social programs, and limited access to providers competent in LGBT health care. Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to care for LGBT patients, unless these patients feel understood by providers and develop trust in the system, they are not likely to utilize care. Healthcare providers need to recognize how these vulnerabilities, as well as persistent racism and stigma linked to sexual orientation and gender identity, make the healthcare needs of LGBT patients more challenging than the general population. Healthcare providers also need to promote cultural competence within this population and broaden their clinical lens to include health promotion, in addition to addressing concerns mentioned above within the population. Additionally, medical and nursing schools need to ensure that future providers are adequately educated by including information about this population in the curriculum.
With acceptance for non-traditional sexual orientations rising globally, issues related to and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, gay, transsexual, intersexual, and queer (LGBTIQ) community are becoming more prevalent. Countries promulgating laws on sexual orientation discrimination are becoming increasingly common, and organizations are pursuing diversity in human resources.
I am really excited to take Queer in Public Health. I think that it is extremely important to learn more about the queer community if I want to work study public health as my focus for community studies. This week, we learned more about the term “queer” and what it entitles.
Many times nurses who hold opposite beliefs will have to care for a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) individual. The ability to integrate LGBT issues within nursing curriculum and nursing education is essential in order to address the health disparities that this community often faces. LGBT community is facing many health disparities such as violence and victimization, discrimination, and lack of cultural competent care. Moreover, due to health disparities LGBT community is at increased risk for mental health illnesses, suicidality and non-suicidal self-harm, and substance use and abuse. I recognized that the possibilities for conflicts between the LGBT patients and nursing professionals includes: nurse’s use of offensive words such as she-male; asking unhelpful questions; use of incorrect name/pronoun. To tackle any future problems between the LGBT patients and nurses I came up with some recommendations such as 1) Compassion and respect for the patient's expressed gender identity. 2) Clinician training in transgender and gender-variant health issues. 3) Be non-judgmental, open, professional. Provide client-centered care. 4) Be an ally. Educate yourself so you are trans-friendly in your field of expertise. Working with colleagues: “See something, say something.” 5) Honor the patient's preferred gender identity and use the pronouns and terminology that the patient
A social problem is normally a term used to describe problems with a particular area or group of people in the world. Social problems often involve problems that affect real life. It also affects how people react to certain situations. While differences in racial/ethnic prejudices have been explored extensively in past literature (e.g. Bobo and Zubrinksy’s 1996, study of differential prejudices directed toward Hispanic and Black individuals), little U.S. research has investigated how attitudes toward lesbians, gays, bisexual men, bisexual women, and male-to-female (MtF) and female-to-male (FtM) transgender (henceforth “LGBT”) may differ ( Marcus, 2015).