Why LGBTQ Healthcare Matters: Identifying Unique Needs for Inclusive, Equitable Care
The Importance of LGBTQ-Inclusive Healthcare
Providing LGBTQ+ inclusive and accessible healthcare is not simply a moral imperative, but an essential aspect of our modern healthcare system. LGBTQ+ identifying individuals face unique healthcare challenges. Sometimes these challenges are circumstantial. In other words, the same diagnosis with a new context. Sometimes, however, the challenges presented by LGBTQ+ patients in the healthcare clinic are much more complex — intertwining physical, mental, social, and legal challenges in a new and unfamiliar form. The burden of this is that too often LGBTQ+ patients feel misunderstood, afraid or all together unwelcome, leading to poor follow up, underdiagnosis and undertreatment, ultimately leading to increased systemic burden. When providers specifically offer LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare, identifying patients feel comfortable disclosing their social circumstances, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Inclusivity on behalf of the provider is an effort. I believe that all patients want to feel as though their needs are being met on a very personal level each time they walk in to the clinic. When patients visit the healthcare setting, they are often unsure of their circumstances. Many times they are anxious, sick, or may not want to be present at all. Inclusivity is about creating an environment that reaches patients at their present circumstances so their concerns can be addressed in an appropriate, specific, and empathetic manner. The way we all would want. In tangible form, this might include intake forms with appropriate fields that do not exclude identities or offering specific, less-common therapies. It also should include confident, knowledgeable, and affirming healthcare providers that have committed to addressing LGBTQ+ specific circumstances without judgment. Inclusive healthcare is not a one-size fits all checklist. It is a toolbox that includes a range of strategies. But by understanding and implementing these strategies, healthcare providers and patients can better address the specific health concerns. Inclusivity ultimately leads to more effective care and improved health outcomes for everyone involved.
Understanding What LGBTQ-Inclusive Healthcare Is
At its core, LGBT healthcare is patient-centered. Inclusive healthcare is a commitment from healthcare providers to understand sometimes complex and nuanced circumstances. It also demands sensitivity and awareness of specific LGBTQ+ disparities. On the surface this may not appear unique. This sort of empathy may seem like behavior most healthcare providers embrace. However, LGBTQ+ inclusivity is about understanding the population preferences and behaviors on a level that embraces understanding their unique sexual and social health risks and disparities.
The goal of inclusive healthcare on behalf of the provider is to first recognize these disparities in an attempt to also minimize or eliminate them. Some basic examples of such disparities include higher rates of smoking with greater resistance to quitting, higher rates of mental health diagnoses, higher incidence of high-risk sexual behaviors, or presence of gender identity concerns. A failure of our healthcare system to address these issues has created a gap where patients are excluded from appropriate healthcare facilitated by under recognition.
The Impact of LGBTQ-Inclusive Healthcare
The impact of LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare extends beyond the individual patient. It is systemic. It has the power to improve compliance with preventative care, reduce hospitalizations, reduce mortality, and reduce the overall burden of our already strained healthcare system.
For many LGBTQ individuals, prior experiences of discrimination, insensitivity, and judgement in healthcare settings have lead to a reluctance to seek out healthcare. Implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive practices, especially in primary care, transcends these barriers to care.
Moreover, this can have a profound effect on overall health outcomes. When healthcare providers are knowledgeable about the specific health risks and challenges faced by LGBTQ individuals, they can offer more targeted and effective interventions. Taken together, inclusive healthcare not only improves the quality of care but also contributes to reduced overall waste in the system.
LGBTQ Health Disparities and Challenges
LGBTQ+ individuals are unique. They often have difficult, complicated, non-traditional or storied backgrounds. They also have unique social patterns, behaviors, and habits. For example, societal norms within the LGBTQ+ population are not always broadly accepted or shared by other populations. Many times this translates into unique physical and mental healthcare needs.
Disparities can also be rooted in societal stigma, trauma, discrimination, and a lack of awareness or understanding among the general population as well as healthcare providers.
These health disparities are compounded by barriers to accessing healthcare, such as fear of discrimination, previous negative experiences with healthcare providers, and a lack of providers who are knowledgeable about LGBTQ health needs. These challenges underscore the importance of LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare practices that can address and mitigate these disparities.
