The purpose of this Resource Guide is to support health center care teams in providing equitable, compassionate, high-quality care for patients in the contexts of pain management, substance use disorders (SUDs), and meaningful linkages to care. Inside, you will find actionable strategies and resources to help your care team reduce health disparities and advance health equity among minoritized and stigmatized people who, due to historical and structural injustices, are more vulnerable to undertreatment and mistreatment of pain and SUDs.
Learning Resources — Filtered by Topic
Integrated Behavioral Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People: An Affirming, Harm Reduction, and Trauma Responsive Approach
Integrated behavioral health care cannot eliminate all barriers and health inequities experienced by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. It can, however, serve as a bridge to overall wellness, and can fulfill functions associated with primary care, and in doing so, can represent a low-barrier, harm reduction method of meeting patients’ needs. It can provide a setting to address mental health concerns that may arise from the process of negotiating one’s identity as a TGD person, being denied certain forms of health care, or navigating spaces where one’s value is diminished. Integrated behavioral health care can also help to facilitate the initiation and management of gender-affirming hormone therapy, thereby reducing the need for referrals to specialty providers, eliminating wait times, and enhancing patient and provider satisfaction.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
- Transgender Health
Body Image, Eating Disorders, and LGBTQIA+ Identities: Supporting Youth, Older Adults, and Non-binary People
Eating disorders have steadily increased in the U.S. population, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although once considered a problem for white wealthy girls and women, eating disorders and related body-image disturbances are now known to reach across all races/ethnicities, socio-economic levels, and gender identities. Research suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have a high prevalence of eating disorders and negative body image that may require culturally responsive approaches to screening and counseling. This clinical publication provides information and strategies for improving the capacity of health centers to screen, assess, and address issues related to eating disorders and body image among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and all sexually and gender diverse (LGBTQIA+) people, with special considerations for LGBTQIA+ youth, older adults, and non-binary people.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
LGBTQIA+ Care Organizational Change Videos
Our new 3-5 minute video series discusses best practices for organizational change at health centers to provide LGBTQIA+ affirming care. Topics include Health Needs Assessment, Engagement and Collaboration with Community Partners, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Data Collection, Information Technology Considerations, Investment and Engagement from Key Stakeholders, and Recruitment and Retention of LGBTQIA+ workers.
Health Benefits and Considerations of Sports Participation and Physical Activity for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
This webinar will present the unique barriers to and benefits of physical activity and sports participation for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) persons. Presenters will discuss the legal, social, and medical barriers to engagement, including accessibility and safety. The webinar will highlight medical and mental health benefits specific to TGD persons, including with regard to osteopenia/osteoporosis, obesity, hypertension, minimization of gender dysphoria, and other mental health benefits. Participants will hear directly from a transgender athlete about their experience navigating sports participation and from a clinician on best practices for engaging TGD patients with compassionate informed support and connecting them to affirming sports-related resources.
- Filed under
- Diabetes and Heart Health
- Transgender Health
Gender-affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People Experiencing Homelessness
This webinar will highlight unique challenges and best practices to improve gender-affirming care for TGD people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Presenters will provide an overview of the spectrum of housing instability, address screening considerations and data collection for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), and offer specific resources to support housing stability, gender affirmation, and other social emotional support services. The session will include a didactic component and case presentations.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
What You Need to Know About Informal Caregiving and the LGBTQIA+ Community
This webinar from the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center and the National Center for Equitable Care for Elders (NCECE) will focus on the unique experiences and considerations for supporting both LGBTQIA+ caregivers who provide care or assistance to a family member, chosen family, or friend and those providing care to LGBTQIA+ older adults.
Long COVID and LGBTQIA+ Mental Health
This webinar will focus on the mental health impacts for LGBTQIA+ people who are coping with Long COVID (Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome, or PACS). The COVID-19 pandemic has had an acute negative impact on the physical and mental health of people with multiple, marginalized identities. Issues of isolation, anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm have all seen a dramatic rise in the past few years and continue to profoundly affect LGBTQIA+ people with PACS. In this webinar, Zeina Chemali, MD, MPH, and Dr. Alex Keuroghlian, MD, MPH, will address the ways mental health disparities continue to impact LGBTQIA+ communities in the age of COVID-19 and discuss best practices for culturally responsive and affirming care of Long COVID based on current research.
Culturally and Trauma-Responsive Integrated Behavioral Health Care for LGBTQIA+ Communities
In this webinar we will discuss best practices and lessons learned from the field in response to challenges delivering affirming care for LGBTQIA+ people. We will discuss the impact of these efforts on health and care for LGBTQIA+ communities, and how to work towards culturally responsive and trauma-informed integrative behavioral health care across care teams to promote health and well-being.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
Concepts and Terminology Overview (AESGM 2023)
In this presentation from the March 2023 Advancing Excellence in Sexual and Gender Minority Health Education conference, Dr. Brittany Charlton discusses core SGM health terminology and concepts, as well as affirming patient interaction and theories underling SGM health and health disparities.
