Resources and Medical Issues Specific to the LGBT Population

Ekaterina Brodski-Quigley, MD

The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) population, as many minorities, had been subject of abuse and neglect in the past and, to a lesser degree, nowadays. One of the many issues LGBT people often struggle with is difficulty in obtaining health care. Some of the barriers to care are fear of stigma, fear of disclosure, lack of insurance and the numerous healthcare myths. The goal of this project was to raise awareness about LGBT issues as pertains to their medical care.

It included:

- Researching and compiling resources about LGBT health issues, including access to care.

- Organizing these resources into reader-friendly fashion and making them available to the residents, faculty and staff of Barre Family Health Center, as well as to the other residents of Worcester Family Medicine program.

- Introducing the above resources, and the topic of LGBT-specific health issues, to faculty, residents and staff. To this effect, two presentations had been given in Barre Family Health Center, one for the faculty and residents and one for the staff. Also, the issue was discussed on the Providers Meeting. Another presentation, for the Family Medicine residents, was given as a part of the Core Curriculum lecture series.

- Making Barre Family Health Center more LGBT-friendly by encouraging awareness to LGBT issues, placing patient education handouts in patient rooms and making LGBT-specific patient education resources available to patients and staff.

This poster introduces some of the resources collected during the past two years and some medical issues specific to LGBT population.