New center builds on Columbia University School of Nursing's long-standing commitment to LGBTQ health.
A new center at Columbia University School of Nursing has been established to help eliminate health disparities among sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations.
The Center for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research (CSGMHR) will use innovative methods to study health among SGM populations, as well as support nursing and interdisciplinary scholarly work focused on social justice and health equity among SGM populations, according to a press release.
"While recognition of LGBTQ people's unique needs is growing, we lack solid evidence on how marginalization, stigma, and discrimination impact health," says Tonda Hughes, PhD, executive director of the CSGMHR, associate dean of global health, and the Henrik H. Bendixen Professor at Columbia Nursing.
"The center will support rigorous interdisciplinary research on the social, political, and economic determinants of health for SGM populations," she adds, "which will, in turn, inform practice and form a knowledge base for interventions to address health disparities."
SGM individuals experience worse physical and mental health than their heterosexual peers and face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, substance abuse disorders, depression, and suicidal behavior, research shows.
Lack of access for SGM people to respectful, affirmative health care is well documented. Many LGBTQ individuals report having experienced discrimination by clinicians, including outright refusal of medical care, surveys have found.
In the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, nearly one in four trans people reported not seeking necessary medical care because they feared being discriminated against.
One-third of those who saw a healthcare provider in the previous year reported having at least one negative experience related to being transgender, including being refused treatment, verbally harassed, or having to teach the provider about transgender people to get appropriate care, according to that survey.
Columbia Nursing has long been a research leader on SGM health, co-founding the Program for the Study of LGBT Health in 2012, together with the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health at New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.
In 2019, the school hosted the first National Nursing LGBTQ Health Summit to create a national health action plan to raise awareness of and improve LGBTQ health.
"Dr. Hughes and her colleagues are conducting ground-breaking research that will further Columbia Nursing’s commitment to health equity and social justice," says Lorraine Frazier, PhD, dean of Columbia University School of Nursing and the senior vice president of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "Under her leadership, the center will train the next generation of researchers in this vital field and educate experienced investigators on the importance of SGM status for health."
The CSGMHR is funded by the Columbia University School of Nursing.
“The center will support rigorous interdisciplinary research on the social, political, and economic determinants of health for SGM populations [to] inform practice and form a knowledge base for interventions to address health disparities.”
Tonda Hughes, PhD, executive director, CSGMHR
Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The medical community lacks solid evidence on how marginalization, stigma, and discrimination impact health.
Many LGBTQ individuals report having experienced discrimination by clinicians.
A new center at Columbia University School of Nursing will help eliminate health disparities among sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations.