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Project Origin: LGBTQ+ Health Equity Symposium

This project stems from the 2022 LGBTQ+ Health Equity Symposium, which brought together 103 academic and community experts. They discussed and set priorities to advance LGBTQ+ health equity. Key priorities identified include:

• Provider Training: Comprehensive training for all staff, not just direct care providers.
• Standards of Care: Improved standards to meet LGBTQ+ community needs.
• Inclusive Research: Collecting data to better represent LGBTQ populations.

Creation of the LGBTQ+ Health Equity Research Network

The symposium led to the formation of the LGBTQ+ Health Equity Research Network (HERN) within the Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP Center), led by Dr. Hayley Thompson at Wayne State University and Karmanos Cancer Center. The group’s main focus is enhancing healthcare experiences for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly through effective training for providers and clinic staff.

Community-Based Research

This initiative is grounded in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles, leveraging community strengths to address health disparities. As part of the groundwork, 47 LGBTQ+ individuals participated in 7 focus groups to share their experiences with healthcare and identify key training content areas for providers.

This collaborative approach aims to make healthcare more sensitive and responsive to the needs of LGBTQ+ patients.

The LGBTQ Health Equity Research Network (HERN) was formed, as part of the Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations, under the direction of Hayley Thompson, a health psychologist in the Oncology Department in Wayne State University School of Medicine and at Karmanos Cancer Center. The Health Equity Research Network is comprised of academic researchers, community-based researchers, community organizers, and leaders representing the Detroit Department of Health, Corktown Health, Transcend the Binary… (LIST THE REST HERE).

LGBTQ+ Health Equity Symposium as the Origin of this project.  This study is an outgrowth of a symposium held in 2022 that brought together 103 academic and community experts who shared space, engaged in dialogue, and set an agenda to drive efforts toward LGBTQ+ health equity. The findings from the symposium (Sass, 2022) include the following proposed priorities: provider training including widespread, comprehensive training, for staff andall in practice not just direct care providers, dissemination of evidence-based training and recurring education; improved standards of care to meet the needs of the LGBTQ community; research that collects more inclusive data that highlights representation and visibility of LGBTQ populations. As a result of the symposium, we created the LGBTQ+ Health Equity Research Network (HERN) as part of the CHECK-UP (Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations) Center under the direction of Hayley Thompson, a health psychologist in the Oncology Department in the Wayne State University School of Medicine and at Karmanos Cancer Center.  The group has spent significant time determining how best to collaborate to address the main priority that resulted from the symposium: how to improve healthcare experiences for the LGBTQ+ community, and more specifically, training providers and clinic staff to be sensitive and responsive to LGBTQ+ patient needs. This application is grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles (Israel et al., 2005; Hacker, 2013) that leverage the strengths and assets of community members to address the health disparities of LGBTQ+ patients and will continue to undergird this project. Focus Groups. Part of the preparatory work for this application was the recruitment of 47 LGBTQ+ individuals for 7 focus groups focusing on patient experiences navigating the health care systems and potential content areas for provider training.

Significance

Methods

Participants were recruited online and from LGBTQ+ -focused community organizations in Michigan. Qualitative thematic analysis, informed by the Framework Method, is being used to analyze data from the transcripts. Groups, lasting 1.5 to 2 hours, were conducted via Zoom and included diverse LGBTQ+ community members, including lesbians and bisexual women, gay and bisexual men, transgender men, transgender women, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.  

We are currently immersed in the intricate process of analyzing the rich data collected from our focus groups. This phase is essential for extracting meaningful insights that will shape our future initiatives and enhance our understanding of the diverse experiences within the LGBTQ+ community as we navigate healthcare systems.

Research Team 

Wayne State University Researchers

Sarah Kiperman

Rick Zimmerman

Carrie Leach

J. Lloyd Allen

Angulique Outlaw

Patricia Wren

Community Partners

Brayden A. Misiolek, Transcend the Binary

Patrick Yankee, Corktown Health

Courtney Mucklin, MATEC Michigan

Keith Hughes, City of Detroit Department of Public Health

Other University Researchers

Joshua Grimm, Louisianna State University

Joseph Schwartz, Northeastern University

Marvin Solberg, University of Michigan

CHECK-UP Staff (Wayne State University)

Alexandra Sass

Zachary Cichon

 Study Sponsors 

Wayne State University

Karmanos Cancer Institute

Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations

City of Detroit Department of Public Health 

MATEC Michigan 

Corktown Health