The Health Access Initiative: A Training and Technical Assistance Program to Improve Health Care for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth.
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ABSTRACT: Purpose
This article describes the Health Access Initiative (HAI), an intervention to improve the general and sexual health care experiences of sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) by providing training and technical assistance to providers and staff. The training consisted of an online and in-person training, followed by site-specific technical assistance. We present the findings of a pilot evaluation of the program with 10 diverse clinics in Michigan.Methods
This program was developed using community-based participatory research principles. Based on a framework of cultural humility, program activities are guided by the Situated Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model. The mixed method program evaluation used training feedback surveys assessing program feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness; pre/post surveys assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward SGMY; and in-depth interviews with site liaisons assessing technical assistance and structural change.Results
The HAI is a highly feasible and acceptable intervention for providers and staff at a variety of health care sites serving adolescents and emerging adults. The results from 10 clinics that participated in the HAI indicate strong intervention efficacy, with significant and meaningful improvements seen in the knowledge of, attitudes toward, and practices with SGMY reported by providers and staff at 6-month follow-up compared with baseline, as well as in qualitative interviews with site liaisons.Conclusions
The HAI is a promising intervention to improve the quality of primary and sexual health care provided to SGMY. Expanded implementation with continued evaluation is recommended. The HAI may also be adapted to address specific health needs of SGMY beyond sexual health.
SUBMITTER: Jadwin-Cakmak L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7739871 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Many youth with mental health needs cannot access treatment, with multiply-marginalized youth, such as sexual minority youth of Color (SMYoC), experiencing both structural and identity-related barriers to care. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to exacerbate multi-level treatment access barriers facing SMYoC youth nationwide. However, little large-scale research has examined access to mental health care among SMYoC across the United States, either during or prior to the pandemic. Such work is critical to understanding and ameliorating barriers in this domain. Using data from adolescents who self-identified as SMYoC and who endorsed a desire for mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 470, ages 13-16, from 43 U.S. states), we examined associations between state-level, structural factors (income inequality; mental health-care provider shortage; anti-Black racism; homophobia; and the interaction between anti-Black racism and homophobia) and SMYoC mental health treatment access. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed state-level mental health-care provider shortage as the only significant predictor of SMYoC reporting they never (versus always) accessed mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic. SMYoC living in areas with both lower homophobia and lower anti-Black racism were more likely to report always (versus sometimes) accessing mental health treatment. Results highlight the critical importance of considering diverse structural factors and applying an intersectional lens when exploring barriers to mental health treatment among multiply-marginalized youth. In locations where provider shortages are less severe, cultural stigma - including anti-Black racism and homophobia - may still pose challenges for SMYoC in need of mental health care.
| S-EPMC9452605 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC8041217 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeSexual and gender minorities (SGMs) are underrepresented and information about SGMs is difficult to locate in national health surveillance data, and this limits identification and resolution of SGM health disparities. It is also not known how measures of sexual orientation and transgender-inclusive gender identity in health surveillance compare with best practice recommendations. This article reviews and summarizes the publicly available, English language, large-scale, rigorously sampled, national, international, and regional data sources that include sexual orientation or transgender-inclusive gender identity and compares measures with best practice guidelines.MethodsA systematic review was undertaken of national, international, state, and regional health surveillance data sources. Data sources that measured sexual orientation or transgender-inclusive gender identity and met seven inclusion criteria were included.ResultsForty-three publicly accessible national, international, and regional data sources included measures of sexual orientation and transgender-inclusive gender identity and health. For each data source, sampling design, sample characteristics, study years, survey questions, contact persons, and data access links are provided. Few data sources met best practice recommendations for SGM measurement: 14% measured all three dimensions of sexual orientation (identity, behavior, attraction) as recommended by the Sexual Minority Assessment Research Team. No data sources measured transgender-inclusive gender identity according to the Gender Identity in U.S. Surveillance-recommended two-step method of measuring sex assigned at birth and current gender identity.ConclusionsThis article provides a much needed detailed summary of extant health surveillance data sources that can be used to inform research about health risks and disparities among SGM populations. Future recommendations are for more rigorous measurement and oversampling to advance what is known about SGM health disparities and guide development of interventions to reduce disparities.
| S-EPMC5404274 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC10467362 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY, aged 14-29 years) face increased risks to their well-being, including rejection by family, exclusion from society, depression, substance use, elevated suicidality, and harassment, when compared with their cisgender, heterosexual peers. These perils and a lack of targeted programs for SGMY exacerbate their risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions support clients by generating alternative ways of interpreting their problems and beliefs about themselves. CBT, tailored to the experiences of SGMY, may help SGMY improve their mood and coping skills by teaching them how to identify, challenge, and change maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. Based on the promising results of a pilot study, a CBT-informed group intervention, AFFIRM, is being tested in a pragmatic trial to assess its implementation potential. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study is to scale-up implementation and delivery of AFFIRM, an 8-session manualized group coping skills intervention focused on reducing sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial distress among SGMY. Our secondary aim is to decrease sexual risk taking, poor mental health, and internalized homophobia and to increase levels of sexual self-efficacy and proactive coping among SGMY. METHODS:SGMY are recruited via flyers at community agencies and organizations, as well as through Web-based advertising. Potential participants are assessed for suitability for the group intervention via Web-based screening and are allocated in a 2:1 fashion to the AFFIRM intervention or a wait-listed control in a stepped wedge wait-list crossover design. The intervention groups are hosted by collaborating community agency sites (CCASs; eg, community health centers and family health teams) across Ontario, Canada. Participants are assessed at prewait (if applicable), preintervention, postintervention, 6-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up for sexual health self-efficacy and capacity, mental health indicators, internalized homophobia, stress appraisal, proactive and active coping, and hope. Web-based data collection occurs either independently or at CCASs using tablets. Participants in crisis are assessed using an established distress protocol. RESULTS:Data collection is ongoing; the target sample is 300 participants. It is anticipated that data analyses will use effect size estimates, paired sample t tests, and repeated measures linear mixed modeling in SPSS to test for differences pre- and postintervention. Descriptive analyses will summarize data and profile all variables, including internal consistency estimates. Distributional assumptions and univariate and multivariate normality of variables will be assessed. CONCLUSIONS:AFFIRM is a potentially scalable intervention. Many existing community programs provide safe spaces for SGMY but do not provide skills-based training to deal with the increasingly complex lives of youth. This pragmatic trial could make a significant contribution to the field of intervention research by simultaneously moving AFFIRM into practice and evaluating its impact. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID):DERR1-10.2196/13462.
| S-EPMC6592518 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceLittle is known about the neurologic health needs of sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and existing research indicates health care disparities for this group.ObjectiveTo describe the current state of science in SGM neurology and highlight areas of knowledge and gaps to guide future research.Evidence reviewAll articles published before April 12, 2020, in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and BIOSIS Previews were searched using a search string encompassing SGM descriptors and neurologic disorders. A total of 8359 items were found and entered into EndNote, and 2921 duplicates were removed. A blind title and abstract review was performed followed by full-text review in duplicate, with conflicts settled through consensus, to identify 348 articles eligible for data abstraction. Articles presenting primary data about an identified adult SGM population addressing a clinical neurology topic were included. Descriptive statistics were used for abstracted variables.FindingsOf 348 studies, 205 (58.9%) were case reports or series, 252 (72.4%) included sexual minority cisgender men, and 247 (70.9%) focused on HIV. An association was found between autism spectrum disorder and gender dysphoria in 9 of 16 studies (56.3%), and a higher risk of ischemic stroke in transgender women was shown in other studies. Literature in neuroinfectious disease, the most common topic, largely focused on HIV (173 of 200 studies [86.5%]). Findings in other neurologic topics were limited by lack of data.Conclusions and relevanceIn this rigorous compendium of SGM neurology literature, several deficiencies were found: most studies focused on a limited breadth of neurologic pathology, included only a portion of the overall SGM community, and did not assess other aspects of sociodemographic diversity that may contribute to disparities in health care access and outcomes among SGM individuals. Expanding neurologic research to include broader representation of SGM individuals and incorporating sociodemographic factors, like race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, are essential steps toward providing equitable neurologic care for this community.
| S-EPMC9154308 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionAlthough population studies have documented the poorer health outcomes of sexual minorities, few have taken an intersectionality approach to examine how sexual orientation, gender, and race jointly affect these outcomes. Moreover, little is known about how behavioral risks and healthcare access contribute to health disparities by sexual, gender, and racial identities.MethodsUsing ordered and binary logistic regression models in 2015, data from the 2013 and 2014 National Health Interview Surveys (n=62,302) were analyzed to study disparities in self-rated health and functional limitation. This study examined how gender and race interact with sexual identity to create health disparities, and how these disparities are attributable to differential exposure to behavioral risks and access to care.ResultsConditional on sociodemographic factors, all sexual, gender, and racial minority groups, except straight white women, gay white men, and bisexual non-white men, reported worse self-rated health than straight white men (p<0.05). Some of these gaps were attributable to differences in behaviors and healthcare access. All female groups, as well as gay non-white men, were more likely to report a functional limitation than straight white men (p<0.05), and these gaps largely remained when behavioral risks and access to care were accounted for. The study also discusses health disparities within sexual, gender, and racial minority groups.ConclusionsSexual, gender, and racial identities interact with one another in a complex way to affect health experiences. Efforts to improve sexual minority health should consider heterogeneity in health risks and health outcomes among sexual minorities.
| S-EPMC4875806 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeUnderstanding how sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth's comfort with research procedures compares to their comfort with everyday experiences and routine health care can help calibrate decisions about whether a study meets minimal risk criteria. We sought to quantify SGM adolescents' comfort with sexual health research relative to everyday events and activities often cited as benchmarks of minimal risk.MethodsA total of 616 SGM adolescents in the United States (mean age = 15.7 years, 41.7% racial/ethnic minority) completed online survey questions assessing sexual behavior, SGM identity, and a 53-item Measure of Adolescent Comfort with Clinical, Research, and Everyday Events that assessed comfort on a 7-point scale (1 = extremely uncomfortable and 7 = extremely comfortable).ResultsThe Everyday Events for Adolescents domain had the lowest mean comfort score (M = 3.49, standard deviation [SD] = .58) and was significantly lower than the Routine Medical and Psychological Tests domain (M = 4.43, SD = .92) and the HIV/Sexual Health Research Procedures domain (M = 4.19, SD = .94). Eleven of 17 items on the HIV/Sexual Health Research Procedures domain were ranked as more comfortable than a neutral rating of "neither comfortable nor uncomfortable." Higher levels of parental acceptance predicted greater levels of comfort across all four domains of the Measure of Adolescent Comfort with Clinical, Research, and Everyday Events. Participants who were out to their parents expressed greater comfort with both SGM Identity and Sexual Health-related procedures and events as well as HIV/Sexual Health Research Procedures.ConclusionsOverall participants expressed equal or more comfort with research procedures than with everyday life experiences. These findings indicate that common sexual health research procedures may meet minimal risk criteria among SGM adolescent populations.
| S-EPMC6478526 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify associations between school-based, health-promotive factors and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) for sexual and gender minority youth and their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Methods: Using data from the 2019 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (N = 17,811) and multilevel logistic regression to account for school-based clustering, we compared the effect of four school-based health-promotive factors on NSSI for stratified samples of lesbian/gay, bisexual, and gender-diverse (hereafter, gender minority [GM]) youth. Interactions were examined to evaluate the impact of school-based factors on NSSI for lesbian/gay, bisexual, (compared with heterosexual) and GM (compared with cisgender) youth. Results: Stratified analyses showed that three school-based factors (adult at school who listens, adult at school who believes they will be successful, clear school rules) were associated with lower odds of reporting NSSI for lesbian/gay and bisexual youth, but not GM youth. Interaction effects showed that lesbian/gay youth demonstrated greater reductions in odds of NSSI when reporting school-based supports compared with heterosexual youth. Associations between school-based factors and NSSI were not significantly different for bisexual compared with heterosexual youth. GM youth appear to experience no health-promotive effect on NSSI of school-based factors. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the potential of schools to provide supportive resources that reduce the odds of NSSI for most youth (i.e., heterosexual and bisexual youth), but are particularly effective in reducing NSSI among lesbian/gay youth. However, more study is needed to understand the potential impact of school-based health-promotive factors on NSSI for GM youth.
| S-EPMC10734899 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDespite multiple federal initiatives and calls to action, nursing literature on the health of sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations remains sparse. Low levels of funding for SGM-focused research may be a factor.PurposeTo examine the proportion and focus of National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)-funded projects that address SGM health, the number and type of publications arising from that funding, and the reach of those publications over time.MethodsNINR-funded grants focused on SGM research and bibliometrics of resultant publications were identified using multiple search strategies in NIH RePORTER and PubMed and Scopus, respectively.FindingsSince 1987, NINR has funded 25 projects addressing the health of SGM populations. Pre-doctoral fellowship funding resulted in more publications in nursing journals than research grant funding.DiscussionThere are clear differences in patterns of funding for fellowships and research grants with corresponding differences in publications and impact on the nursing literature.
| S-EPMC7269852 | biostudies-literature