September 18th is national HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

[William769]

During the past several years I have given many talks at medical schools, nursing schools, and hospitals on how to end LGBT invisibility in health care, LGBT people often do not overtly demonstrate their sexuality and are reluctant to volunteer the information unless they feel it’s a safe enough clinical environment.

I generally begin my sessions by asking attendees if they have ever had a physician take a sexual history, and if they have ever been asked about their sexual orientation or gender identity. Generally the first question elicits positive responses from up to 10% of those attending, and the second question elicits a positive response from a few at most. That rate is consistent with studies, albeit the number of these studies has been few, and the numbers studied relatively small. A CDC report recently quoted a study by the Institute of Medicine: “Ironically, it may require greater intimacy to discuss sex than to engage in it.”

In order to begin enhancing the value of prevention and care we provide to LGBT people, it is vital to speak frankly with patients about issues related to sexual identity, behavior and desire, and to be prepared to offer non-judgmental, appropriate, and informed advice. Last week the United States Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services awarded The Fenway Institute a grant to create a national LGBT health technical assistance and training center for community health centers. The multi-year, almost $900,000 grant will allow Fenway to train health center providers, administrators and staff in how to better serve and care for LGBT patients. Drawing on material from The Fenway Guide to LGBT Health, this program will seek to train clinicians across the country so that all LGBT people will have access to quality care provided in a welcoming environment. Our hope is that this program becomes an example used by others to teach their colleagues and themselves how to end health disparities for all and ensure that health care is a human right.

While medical technology can take us to great heights, and we spend billions of dollars learning about intricate manipulations of the human genome to cure disease, education of health professionals often avoids some of the simpler skills that can be employed to help keep people healthy.

http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/OpEd_Better_LGBT_Health_Starts_With_a_Conversation/