Health Education Trainings
Callen-Lorde provides trainings to medical, health care, and other social service professionals and strives to spread awareness about LGBT sensitivity and LGBT health priorities. Below is a list of our workshops.
Training Objectives, Descriptions, and Outlines:
Transgender Sexual Health Clinic: A Model for Creating Inclusive Care
“Sexual health is physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexuality and gender. It requires a positive, respectful, and informed approach free of coercion, discrimination, and violence” (World Health Organization). This workshop will discuss Callen-Lorde Community Heath Center’s work to create a Transgender Sexual Health Clinic recognizing that trans people face challenges, discomfort, and trauma in accessing sexual health services. We know that many in the trans community do not access sensitive sexual health resources such as breast/chest exams, safe sex education, STI/HIV screenings, etc. and there are limited health education resources available that are by and for the trans community. We will share a model of affirmative transgender sexual health care and help educate and empower participants to defend YOUR health!
Providing Affirmative, Informed, and Sensitive Transgender Health Care
Transgender people face many barriers within health care, including discrimination, ignorance, and fear. The lack of informed care, sensitive language, research, and data prevents access to competent routine care and screening. This program is designed to teach participants how to provide affirmative, informed, and sensitive transgender health care. As the “T” often gets grouped in with the “LGB” without necessary understanding and resources, this workshop will help participants understand how transphobia affects many aspects of a health center or social service organization. This workshop will explore barriers to care for the transgender community and share experiences from New York City’s primary care LGBT health center.
Interactive Workshop on Meeting Needs of LGBT Patients
Through this interactive lecture, the presenter and audience will explore the questions:
- Why is it important to know if a patient is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?
- How can I find out if a patient is LGBT?
- What should I do differently with an LGBT patient?
The presenter will define the terms sexual identity, sexual behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and biological sex and explain how these traits interact with an individual’s health and access to healthcare. The presenter will guide the audience through some of the specific health problems faced by these populations. We will also talk about how common health problems may present differently in LGBT populations, or may warrant evaluations or treatments that differ from the usual. The program will increase participants’ cultural competence in working with LGBT populations.
Taking a LGBT Sensitive Sexual Health Screening
Taking a sensitive sexual history is extremely important. Sexual histories acknowledge that sexuality is a normal part of a healthy life, identify risky behavior, identify and evaluate sexual dysfunction, assist with family planning, assist with disease prevention, identify health issues, facilitate openness in the doctor/nurse/other health care provider-patient relationship, allows patients to ask questions from a reliable source, and allows health care providers to understand their patients better. Disclosure is associated with increased care seeking, increased preventive care, decreased smoking and failure to disclose is associated with decreased adherence, decreased satisfaction, decreased care seeking, and delay of treatment. LGBT patients often are afraid to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity because of fear and discrimination. This workshop will discuss how to be sensitive and will explore the many components of a sexual history. We will explore what should we ask, what are the barriers,. and how to create a safe and empowering space for LGBT people.
Defend Your Health: Sexual Health for Trans Men
Transmen, FtMs, genderqueer, and people of trans experience on the masculine spectrum often have difficulties accessing quality and informed health care, especially sexual health care. Come hear about Callen-Lorde‘s (NYC’s LGBT health Center) work to create a Transgender Sexual Health Clinic in order to provide trans-affirmative, sex-positive healthcare and gynecology services in a supportive environment. We will cover such topics as chest health, pelvic exams, STI screenings and treatment, health risks, hormones, and ways to talk to your health care provider. We know how uncomfortable and often traumatic this experience is for many of us in healthcare settings. We hope to create a comfortable space for discussion, resources, support, and tools to defend YOUR health!
How to Provide Sensitive, Affirmative, and Informed Transgender Health Care: From the Front Desk to the Clinician Level
Transgender people face many barriers within health care, including discrimination, ignorance, and fear. The lack of informed care, sensitive language, research, and data prevents access to competent routine care and screening. This program is designed to teach participants how to provide affirmative, informed, and sensitive transgender health care from the front desk to the clinician level. As the “T” often gets grouped in with the “LGB” without necessary understanding and resources, this workshop will help participants understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity and how transphobia affects many aspects of a health center or social service organization. This workshop will explore barriers to care for the transgender community from disrespectful pronoun use to insensitive environments to denial of care. We will share tools from transgender sensitivity trainings conducted throughout nursing schools, medical schools, and department specific trainings for health centers as well as the creation of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center’s Transgender Community Advisory Board.
Program Objectives:
- Learn concrete tools to incorporate into your organization, practice, etc. to improve transgender health care
- Provide necessary transgender education and training in order to enhance sensitivity and understanding throughout all aspects of health care
- Reduce barriers to care and improve screening, routine care, and transgender specific care
Closing the Gap: A Tailored Team Approach to Prevention, Screening, and Treatment for MSM and Transgender Communities
This workshop is designed to help participants learn from Callen-Lorde Community Health Center’s 6 year Sexual Health Clinic for men who have sex with men (MSM) and our work on creating a specific Transgender Sexual Health Clinic, which will be one of the first of its kind in the country. The goals of the Sexual Health Clinic are to increase access to comprehensive STI clinical care and to incorporate a risk reduction approach into STI screening and treatment. At Callen-Lorde, we know that our transgender patients face severe challenges, discomfort, and trauma in health care, especially when discussing body parts and sexual practices. Trans people have experienced societal and institutional transphobia that is directly connected to their bodies and gender identities. Many providers are not aware of sensitive and respectful language in regards to the sexual health of transgender patients and many in the trans community are not aware of their sexual health needs and risks for HIV/AIDS. From our experience working with approximately 900 transgender patients, we know that the trans community rarely accesses sexual health resources such as breast/chest exams, safe sex education, STI/HIV tests, etc. and there are limited health education resources available for the trans community. We will share our successes and challenges in our 6 years in a developed sexual health clinic for men who have sex with men and our newly created Trans Sexual Health Clinic.
Having an established streamlined STI HIV model and tailoring it to specific communities is an effecting way to address marginalized populations. Integrating routine HIV testing into primary care in a community health center setting is feasible, even in a high prevalence setting such as Callen-Lorde. The protocol in our MSM Sexual Health Clinic was well received by staff and patients and did not have a negative impact on patient flow or cycle times. Development of a screening questionnaire, use of the EMR and training of staff were all viewed as important elements that led to maximum efficiency of systems. We have responded to patient needs and the growing rate of HIV in the transgender community by creating a Transgender Sexual Health Clinic and we predict that implementing this specific program will have a significant impact on the rates of STI’s and HIV in this community. Sharing this model is incredibly important to providing essential prevention and outreach services to this underserved, at risk population.
LGBT Sensitivity Training: Sample Outline
- Welcome and Introductions
- Why is this important/How is this connected to the work you do
- Definitions
- Sexual Orientation vs. Sexual Identity
- LGBT Access & Barriers to Social Services (Homelessness/Housing, Healthcare, Discrimination)
- Cultural Sensitivity and Understanding
- Scenarios & Needs Assessment
- Questions and Answers
- Resources and Referrals
Integrating LGBT Health into Nursing School: Sample Activity
Activity:
Think through your nursing school classes here at School of Nursing (both your current classes and upcoming class topics you can anticipate). What are the lectures, class topics, discussions, health topics, etc. where you can incorporate LGBT health topics, case studies, and discussion? What are some strategies you can use to incorporate this into curriculum? What are the challenges you foresee?
Student’s Ideas and Strategies for Integration into School of Nursing:
- Integrate LGBT health topics into Fundamentals of Nursing
- Use LGBT identities as case studies for care plans, etc.
- Discuss LGBT health in Primary Care
- Integrate into site curriculum
- Learn how to ask sensitive, respectful, and informed questions for LGBT patients and clients
- Integrate into developmental psychology classes
- Integrate into therapeutic communications and (sub)culture curriculum
- Discuss LGBT barriers to health care
- When discussing cancer, cardiovascular health, sexual health, etc, integrate how LGBT population is at significant risk
- Discuss hormones for transgender clients/patients in Pharmacology class
- Mention in all areas it relates (reproductive health, OB/GYN)
- Bring in these workshops and trainings as required/mandatory for all students, teachers, and administrators
- Clinical observations at Callen-Lorde
- Discuss in mental health
- How to have a non-judgmental attitude
Challenges:
- Time
- Administration's resistance
- Peers close-minded
- Not a lot of research
- How to integrate it
Train the Trainers Model: LGBT Health
Below is a training description from a 2 day Train the Trainers Program on LGBT Health and Sensitivity for Beth Israel Hospital staff. Depending on needs, the training can be tailored.
The LGBT Health Train the Trainers program will help participants learn concrete tools to incorporate into medical practice, administration, social services, and health curriculum to improve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health care and reduce barriers to care. Participants will be provided with necessary LGBT health education and training in order to enhance sensitivity and understanding throughout all aspects of health care and all departments of the hospital. The Train the Trainers component will teach participants essential skills in facilitation and training in order to integrate the important content and training into specific departments within the hospital.
LGBT people face many barriers within health care, including discrimination, ignorance, and fear. The lack of informed care, sensitive language, research, and data prevents access to competent routine care and screening. This training is designed to teach participants how to provide affirmative, informed, and sensitive LGBT health care from the front desk to the clinician level.
Sample Agenda from a 2-day Train the Trainers Program
Day 1
10:00-10:15 Introductions
10:15-10:30 Checking In
10:30-10:40 Group Agreements
10:40-10:45 Why and How is This Important?
10:45-11:30 Beginning Activities
- Matching Game
- Concentric Circles
11:30-12:00 Definitions: Breaking Down the Terms
- Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, LGBT, LGBT Health Care, Health Care Discrimination, etc.
- Charting Our Gender
12:00-12:20 Connecting it to Health Care: Lack of Access and Barriers to Care
12:20-12:45 Quadrant Exercise and Report Back
12:45-1:45 Lunch
1:45-2:15 Gender Identitiy Discrimination
- What Does It Look Like?
- What Does It Lead To?
2:15-2:30 What Are Transgender Health Issues
2:30-3:00 Role Plays with Scenarios
3:00-3:30 A Day in the Life and Report Back
3:30-4:00 Needs Assessment and Next Steps
4:00-4:15 Break
4:15-4:30 Ally Work
4:30-4:40 What is Callen-Lorde Doing? What are other Hospitals Doing?
4:40-4:50 Evaluation, Resources, and Feedback
4:50-5:00 Review of Day 2 and Questions
Day 2
10:00-10:10 Check-In
10:10-10:20 Review of Last Session
10:20-10:25 Introduction to Training the Trainers
10:25-10:35 Empowering Learning Experiences
10:35-10:45 Challenges
10:45-11:00 Mechanics of Workshop Facilitation
11:00-11:30 Setting Goals
- Accessing Audience, Goals, Next Steps
11:30-12:30 Giving Task Instructions
- Scenario for Task Instructions
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:15 Your Toolkit
2:15-2:30 Difficult Situations
2:30-2:45 Essential Components
2:45-3:15 Tailoring Trainings
- Scenarios and List Ways to Tailor
- Personal Sharing Decisions
3:15-3:30 Break
3:30-4:15 Workshop Development and Facilitation Practice
- Using Prior Training and Resources
4:15-4:25 Feedback and Evaluations
- Evaluation Tools
- Evaluating Yourself as a Facilitator
4:25-4:45 How Will it be Integrated? What Will it Look Like at Your Organization?
4:45-5:00 Close Out and Evaluation of the Day
