The real question is what can we do to change the current situation and advocate for a brighter more inclusive future?. The good news that there have been multiple government and public led efforts aiming to make the change like the Joint Commission JACHO (see Table 2 for some of the JACHO efforts in advancing health care for LGBT community adopted from their 2010 report) and Veterans Affairs VA Health systems.
Table 2
Different recommendation and guidelines has been issued to help changing the system and some of the important factors are summarized below under 5 main categories (15):
1) Leadership:
An Effective leadership is the Key to make a change in a complex health systems. JACHO recommends the involvement of the change champions …show more content…
• To adopt process that ease patients disclosure of sexual orientation without the fear of negative attitudes by staff.
• Provide education for patients and staff about LGBT health issues.
• Provide access for up-to-date resources regarding the LGBT community.
3) Workforce:
Although this point was addressed in the past factors, it is very important to highlight it as a different point because of its high impact. Institutions have to make sure to but the systems in place to develop an inclusive workforce staff and have the appropriate measures to stop any indiscrimination.
4) Data Collection and Use:
Data collection and to develop systems that keep track and identify LGBT people for different providers among the institution is very important. This step will help institution to provide better services through 2 routes:
• Better identification of the patients and their special needs based on their sexual preference in anon- discriminatory ways.
• The ability to use such data- with proper patient and IRB approval- in research projects to improve our understanding and EBM guidelines.
5) Patient, Family, and Community