Welcoming LGBTQ Patients and Clients
Presented by Liz Margolies
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Nonfinancial: Liz Margolies is the founder and former executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network. She has no other competing nonfinancial interests or relationships with regard to the content presented in this course.
Across disciplines, health and human service providers have reported a lack of knowledge about LGBTQ language, culture, and health disparities. This contributes to a distrust of the healthcare system, resulting in delayed care with worse health outcomes. When patients and clients feel safe bringing their authentic selves into the treatment room, it leads to better patient-provider communication, greater adherence to recommended follow-up, and, ultimately, improved health. This is the second course of a two-part series addressing this gap in knowledge. This course focuses on both individual and system-wide changes that serve to create a more welcoming environment for LGBTQ people in all treatment settings. Specific skills and recommended policy changes will be addressed. The information in this course will be useful for physical therapists, social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, and others.
Meet your instructor
Liz Margolies
Liz Margolies, LCSW, founder of the National LGBT Cancer Network, has served the LGBTQ community for more than 40 years as a psychotherapist, political activist, and volunteer. Until July 2020, she was also the executive director of the Network, the first and only national program exclusively addressing the needs of LGBT…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. The LGBTQ Experience in Healthcare
This chapter covers the wariness that LGBTQ people experience when engaging with the healthcare system, based on previous negative experiences and fear of discrimination. Understanding the roots of this suspicion and caution can help providers know how to reassure and welcome LGBTQ people into their care.
2. The Impact of Negative Experiences
LGBTQ people report greater dissatisfaction with healthcare and their providers due to previous negative experiences and lack of provider knowledge about this population. This leads to worse health outcomes as measured by patient-centered care models and patient-reported outcomes. Cancer care will be used as an example for this chapter, using quotes from actual LGBTQ survivors.
3. Creating a Welcoming Healthcare Environment
In order to transform the LGBTQ health experience, change must occur on both the personal level and the system level. This chapter will focus on both arenas, offering substantive recommendations for improvement.
4. Consequences, Engagement, and Change
This final chapter will address specific changes that will make the healthcare system more welcoming and safe, including the importance of bathroom safety for transgender and gender nonconforming people. It will also cover other specific recommendations for engaging the LGBTQ community and policy changes that will impact LGBTQ people.
