A few medical schools across the country do a good job of teaching their students about sexual and gender minority health, but that’s not the case for all. Jessica Halem, an LGBT program director at Harvard Medical School, is trying to change that.
A systematic review was conducted to identify the effectiveness of bias-focused educational interventions to reduce bias among medical, nursing, and dental students or providers working with LGBTQ patients. It found that bias-focused educational interventions increase knowledge about lgbt training for healthcare providers care issues and promote more tolerant attitudes toward LGBTQ patients.
National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center
The National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center offers a variety of training programs and resources for healthcare providers. Its programming is intentionally curated to support health care organizations in advancing LGBTQIA+ health in their communities.
The HEALE (Health Education About LGBT Elders) program trains nursing staff and students on how to provide culturally competent care for the LGBTQ+ aging population. This six-module curriculum covers topics such as HIV and aging, sexuality and gender, legal issues, and caring for transgender elderly.
To get credit for the HEALE course, nurses complete an online educational module and assessment. The course is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
The National LGBT Health Education Center also offers over 50 on-demand webinars in a range of LGBTQ health topics, including the HRC Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index training requirements. These webinars count towards the HEI leadership designation. The webinars are free and available on demand. They can be completed from anywhere in the world.
Wild Iris Medical Education
Wild Iris Medical Education offers a variety of online continuing education courses for healthcare providers, including nurses and physical and occupational therapists. These courses are ANCC accredited and approved nationwide.
Taking continuing education is important for healthcare professionals, especially those who work in the field of nursing. This is because most states require licensed healthcare professionals to take certain types of training during their license renewal cycle.
It can be a lot of work and hassle to attend conferences, workshops, or receive “in-service” training at the office, so Wild Iris provides an easy way for healthcare professionals to meet their CE requirements.
In addition to a variety of online nursing CEU courses, Wild Iris also offers state-mandated courses for other healthcare professionals, including therapists and EMTs. Many of the courses are free for new customers. In addition, some of them are offered in course bundles for a discount price.
Health4LGBTI
Health4LGBTI is an innovative training course for healthcare providers, designed to improve their knowledge of and attitudes towards LGBTI people. It was developed by a consortium of European LGBTI activists, academics and health experts.
The project has been funded by the EU Commission and involves an extensive set of research, piloting and evaluation of the course in different contexts across Europe. Its aim is to reduce health inequalities for LGBTI people through improving the cultural competence of healthcare professionals and support staff.
The study showed that the training improved participants’ knowledge about LGBTI people and their needs, regardless of their age or sexual orientation. In addition, their attitudes generally improved, particularly in terms of inclusivity and a greater acknowledgement of LGBTI health needs and self-competence.
Health4Transgender
Health4Transgender offers training to healthcare professionals to ensure they are able to provide the best care for patients who are transgender. It offers a variety of webinars and learning modules, many of which are eligible for CME credits.
The course covers such topics as social and legal transition, delivering culturally competent care, and managing risk factors and their clinical implications. It also provides tools for eliminating discrimination and stigmatization in healthcare.
HCPs who had had training reported higher confidence in working with transgender people accessing their healthcare services. However, this effect was not seen for those who were younger or from a particular socio-economic group.