Supporting LGBT people who are accessing health services training

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This training was held on 6th February and provided in partnership with GP Practices, Health Promotion and the Scottish Drugs Forum to inform primary care staff of the barriers which may be faced by our LGBT community when trying to accessing health services.

The training looked at the stigma and discrimination facing LGBT people and how this can affect health inequalities, for example, very high levels of mental ill-health, psychological distress as well as drug and alcohol use experienced right across this population group.

These health inequalities are particularly acute around mental health, where evidence shows:

  • Suicidal behaviour is 3 times more prevalent among lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people when compared to the general population; this rises to 8 times among transgender people.
  • Self-harm is 8 times more prevalent among LGB people; this rises to 20 times among transgender people (Webster, S., 2014).
  • However, LGBT communities are not a homogenous group and the needs among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans sectors of the population also vary widely. For example, access to gender reassignment treatment is a key need for transgender people, whilst services around HIV, including access to PrEP, and blood borne viruses are needed for men who have sex with men.

The kinds of prejudice, discrimination and disadvantage reported by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are also frequently different. For example, bisexual people often feel less able to be open about their sexual identity compared to lesbian and gay respondents (French et al., 2015). Additionally, it is important to consider how different minority or vulnerable identities intersect. For example, Scottish research shows that disabled LGBT people and LGBT people living in rural areas are most likely to have experienced an incident of prejudice and discrimination (French et al., 2015).

The learning outcomes for staff who attended the training were:

  • learn what LGBT people identify as health issues and what support they need
  • understand the links between discrimination of LGBT people and poorer health outcomes
  • learn some skills/tools for establishing rights-based, inclusive practice within your work setting
  • understand how to support people through the process of ‘coming out’
  • reflect on personal beliefs and attitudes and how these influence practice.

For further information on this training please contact Isabel Steele, Senior Health Promotion Officer, tel. 01870 603156 or email Isabel.steele@nhs.net