Caring For Lesbian Health

At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals-often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT-are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about their health status. While LGBT populations often are combined as a single entity for research and advocacy purposes, each is a distinct population group with its own specific health needs. Furthermore, the experiences of LGBT individuals are not uniform and are shaped by factors of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical location, and age, any of which can have an effect on health-related concerns and needs. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People assesses the state of science on the health status of LGBT populations, identifies research gaps and opportunities, and outlines a research agenda for the National Institute of Health. The report examines the health status of these populations in three life stages: childhood and adolescence, early/middle adulthood, and later adulthood. At each life stage, the committee studied mental health, physical health, risks and protective factors, health services, and contextual influences. To advance understanding of the health needs of all LGBT individuals, the report finds that researchers need more data about the demographics of these populations, improved methods for collecting and analyzing data, and an increased participation of sexual and gender minorities in research. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People is a valuable resource for policymakers, federal agencies including the National Institute of Health (NIH), LGBT advocacy groups, clinicians, and service providers.

This is the first comprehensive textbook on lesbian health, reflecting the exponential increase in research on lesbian health over the past 10 years. I highly recommend this textbook to all clinicians and students who provide health care for women, and to inquisitive patients. --Susan Love, MD, President of the Susan Love Breast Cancer Foundation This book presents new and little-known, current and well-researched material that is essential to combat myths and misinformation about lesbian health. The intended audience is literally starved for this book. Health care providers and lesbian health care advocates may be aware of some of the information in this book, but none of us have the comprehensive understanding and knowledge base that this book provides. It should be available in every curriculum where health care disparities are addressed, and where LGBT health is taught. --Peggy Chinn, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, University of Connecticut Each time a lesbian thinks about weight, retirement, children, a hospital stay, filling out a form, or any other health related activity, she has to insist on a paradigm shift to simply be recognized. This book will push that shift along a little faster and give lesbians the leverage we need to live healthily in this century. --Jewelle Gomez, Author and activist This book presents new and little-known, current and well-researched material that is essential to combat myths and misinformation about lesbian health. The intended audience is literally starved for this book. Health care providers and lesbian health care advocates may be aware of some of the information in this book, but none of us have the comprehensive understanding and knowledge base that this book provides. It should be available in every curriculum where health care disparities are addressed, and where LGBT health is taught. --Peggy Chinn, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, University of Connecticut Each time a lesbian thinks about weight, retirement, children, a hospital stay, filling out a form, or any other health related activity, she has to insist on a paradigm shift to simply be recognized. This book will push that shift along a little faster and give lesbians the leverage we need to live healthily in this century. --Jewelle Gomez, Author and activist

What should you say if your patient is struggling with her sexuality? How do you respond to your married patient when he discloses to you his same-sex sexual history? To which medical studies do you turn when you need to know more about club drugs? As physicians and health professionals, you want to provide the best possible care for your patients, but medical schools and other health care teaching institutions do not generally provide comprehensive information on how to approach caring for sexual-minority patients. Allan D. Peterkin and Cathy Risdon have written Caring for Lesbian and Gay People ? the first medical guide to offer busy clinicians practical, accessible, and evidence-based information to help in the care of gay and lesbian patients. The authors begin with an overview of the history of medical relations with lesbian and gay patients, providing advice and guidelines for strengthening the doctor-patient relationship and raising the standard of care for all patients. The book then delves into a range of specific clinical issues, such as risk profiles for particular illnesses, screening for and managing sexually transmitted infections, and HIV in the primary care setting. Subsequent chapters cover such wide-ranging topics as mental health care and the effect of homophobia on relationships, same-sex parenting, the role that body image plays in health, and unique populations, such as lesbian and gay ethno-racial minorities, the transgendered, rural lesbian and gay people, and elders. Each chapter includes practical tips (advice on inclusive language, for example) and summaries, along with references, of written and online resources. Comprehensive and detailed, this work covers physical and mental health across the life cycle, with equal emphasis on women's and men's health. Based on more than twenty years of patient care and contributions to medical education and community development, this indispensable resource will greatly heighten the quality of care clinicians, health care practitioners, and educators can provide to their patients, and will in turn provide patients and consumers with the means to take an active role in their own health care.

Homophobia and heterosexism present barriers to lesbians and gay men seeking health care. Health Care for Lesbians and Gay Men educates practitioners about the special needs of gay and lesbian patients and how to critically look at the impact of homophobia and heterosexism on the provision of care. It provides an overview of critical health care issues for lesbians and gay men and offers concrete suggestions to health practitioners and social workers on how to address these issues in order to guarantee the best care for their patients and clients.

Women's health, as a field of study, is a developing discipline. Health theories in general have been based on studies of men. However, in recent years, more attention has shifted to women's health, realizing the disparities between men and women in relation to their health. During the last two decades, a similar shift has occurred for a group of womenâ€"lesbian womenâ€"to further identify and specify their health needs. Over the past decade, lesbians have organized to call for attention to the health issues of this community, resulting in several federally funded research initiatives. This book offers a comprehensive view of what is known about lesbian health needs and what questions need further investigation, including: How do we define who is lesbian? Are there unique health issues for lesbians? Are lesbians at higher or lower risk for such health problems as AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, breast cancer, mental disorders, and substance abuse? How does homophobia affect lesbian health and the funding of research on lesbian health? How do lesbian health needs fit into the health care system and the larger society? What risk and protective factors shape the physical and mental health of lesbians? The book discusses how to determine which questions to ask about sexual orientation, the need to obtain information without violating privacy, the importance of considering racial and ethnic diversity in the study of lesbians, strategies for exchanging information among researchers and disseminating findings to the public, and mechanisms for supporting greater numbers of researchers. Lesbian Health takes a frank look at the political pressures, community attitudes, and professional concerns uniquely affecting the study of lesbian health issues. The book explores many other issues including the potential for transferring findings in this field to other population groups, including other rare populations and women in general.

Women's health, as a field of study, is a developing discipline. Health theories in general have been based on studies of men. However, in recent years, more attention has shifted to women's health, realizing the disparities between men and women in relation to their health. During the last two decades, a similar shift has occurred for a group of womenâ€"lesbian womenâ€"to further identify and specify their health needs. Over the past decade, lesbians have organized to call for attention to the health issues of this community, resulting in several federally funded research initiatives. This book offers a comprehensive view of what is known about lesbian health needs and what questions need further investigation, including: How do we define who is lesbian? Are there unique health issues for lesbians? Are lesbians at higher or lower risk for such health problems as AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, breast cancer, mental disorders, and substance abuse? How does homophobia affect lesbian health and the funding of research on lesbian health? How do lesbian health needs fit into the health care system and the larger society? What risk and protective factors shape the physical and mental health of lesbians? The book discusses how to determine which questions to ask about sexual orientation, the need to obtain information without violating privacy, the importance of considering racial and ethnic diversity in the study of lesbians, strategies for exchanging information among researchers and disseminating findings to the public, and mechanisms for supporting greater numbers of researchers. Lesbian Health takes a frank look at the political pressures, community attitudes, and professional concerns uniquely affecting the study of lesbian health issues. The book explores many other issues including the potential for transferring findings in this field to other population groups, including other rare populations and women in general.

"The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health is the first truly comprehensive clinical reference to enhancing the health care and wellness of LGBT patients. Written by leading experts in the field and created in conjunction with Fenway Community Health of Boston, one of America's most respected community-based research and treatment centers, this one-of-a kind resource examines the unique issues faced by sexual minority patients and provides readers with clear and authoritative guidance." -- Book Jacket.

Written by experienced clinicians and edited by Vanderbilt Program for LGBTI Health faculty, this book contains up-to-date expertise from physicians renowned for their work in LGBT health. This important text fills an informational void about the practical health needs of LGBT patients in both the primary care and specialty settings remains, and serves as a guide for LGBT preventive and specialty medicine that can be utilized within undergraduate medical education, residency training, and medical practice. Beginning with a short review of LGBT populations and health disparities, it largely focuses on the application and implementation of LGBT best practices within all realms of medical care. In addition, the book offers recommendations for the integration of LGBT health into systems-based practice by addressing intake forms and electronic health records, as well as evidence-based emerging concerns in LGBT health. This is a must-have volume for medical students, residents, and practicing physicians from all medical specialties.

An interdisciplinary book that creates a space for traditionally oppressed voices to speak, Gateways to Improving Lesbian Health and Health Care explores the health care experiences of lesbians of different ages, colors, and places. By presenting the particular difficulties lesbians have in accessing excellent, or even adequate, health care, this book is meant to convince lesbians who have been isolated that their health issues and interactions with health care professionals are not just personal troubles, but larger public issues. It is also designed to show health care providers how they can sensitize their care and meet the needs of lesbian clients through the provision of safe and respectful environments. As Gateways to Improving Lesbian Health and Health Care addresses the intersection of race, class, and sexuality and how it affects the health care lesbians receive, you learn about lesbians’strategies for coming out to professionals, patient-professional interaction, and the construction of lesbianism as a social problem within the health care arena. You will also learn about: the need to view sexualities as local histories and narratives the invisibility of aging lesbians in health and policy arenas domestic violence in lesbian relationships surviving a series of social identity exclusions the difficulties of finding information on heterosexist or lesbian-friendly health care providers in unfriendly communities personal accounts of prejudices lesbians have encountered when seeking health care struggling with alcoholism Lesbian health care consumers, health care educators and providers, social service workers, and those in women's studies programs need to know how health care services often fail lesbians in need. With its practical suggestions for improving health care delivery to lesbians, Gateways to Improving Lesbian Health and Health Care is essential reading for ensuring quality care to lesbians of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and locations.