How health care organizations can work to improve LGBTQ+ care
The moments that can negatively shape an LGBTQ+ person’s experience with the health care system often happen before they even see a doctor.
“We could talk all day long about screenings, disparities and outcomes—the things that health care professionals want to talk about—but [many LGBTQ patients are] not even going to the doctor in the first place. That’s where this crisis really starts and ends,” says Jessica Halem, who works as a consultant for health care organizations and served as the inaugural LGBTQ Outreach and Engagement Director at Harvard Medical School. “The discrimination and barriers that LGBTQ people face from even going to a doctor’s office is the greatest risk we have in our lives.”