LGBTQ+ Health Equity
Our Goals: We are committed to building capacity, elevating community priorities, and advancing systems change to support safe and inclusive health care and research for all. We are doing this by:
- Bringing LGBTQ+ care best practices to health care and research teams
- Strengthening statewide collaborations between community, academic, and health care organizations to improve the health of communities
Building Connections
Through our data and environmental assessments, we’ve built close relationships and we are expanding our connections statewide as we work together to develop an LGBTQ+ Health Equity Coalition.
Why It’s Important
Primary care providers are an early stop along the way in people’s gender and sexual health journeys. However, LGBTQ+ people are twice as likely to report having negative experiences with a health care provider. Additionally, LGBTQ+ people who experience regular discrimination are twice as likely to have mental health challenges.
Clinicians have a unique and important opportunity to be a supportive presence in LGBTQ+ people’s lives. Alongside providers and educators, researchers can play a crucial role, contributing to the health of LGBTQ+ people through gathering data and stories so we can better understand our community’s health care experiences, health outcomes, and needs. The more we can build affirming spaces and expand the use of LGBTQ+ health care best practices, the more we can support LGBTQ+ people’s well-being. LGBTQ+ Health Equity
What We’ve Done
Completed a data scan and environmental scan.
We gathered the most recent data, as well as information from key informants, to determine where LGBTQ+ communities in Wisconsin need the most support. These first steps were essential in informing our future directions.
LGBTQ+ health care provider education.
We’ve supported residents in the LGBTQ+ health fellowship, as well as collaborated with family medicine clinics to coordinate community presentations for faculty, residents, and other staff.
What’s Next?
Building a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ health equity coalition.
One of our key findings was that organizations working in this space don’t have a good way to coordinate and share resources. We plan to convene partners and form different working groups, such as advocacy, clinical best practices, and continuity of care all focused on creating better LGBTQ+ health outcomes through greater alignment and partnership.
Supporting health care provider education.
We are working to fund initiatives focused on health care provider education in LGBTQ+ health to ensure that LGBTQ+ people receive high quality of care through two strategies:
- Conducting a readiness assessment of department health care providers so we can learn specifically where resident education and faculty development improvements can be made.
- Working to create an LGBTQ+ Project ECHO that will provide continuing education and training to health care providers on LGBTQ+ health.