Center Applauds Groundbreaking Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report on LGBT Health
Given our 28 year commitment to serving the vast health needs of the LGBT community, the Center was pleased to learn that on Thursday, March 31, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a landmark report on LGBT health issues. Titled, “The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding,” the report underscores the need to address the significant health disparities facing LGBT people.
The IOM is an independent, non-profit organization that works to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public. The report was requested by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and will help that agency as it develops specific health programs geared towards LGBT people.
The report offers several recommendations:
(1) NIH should implement a research agenda designed to advance knowledge and understanding of LGBT health; (2) data on sexual orientation and gender identity should be collected in federally funded surveys administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and in other relevant federally funded surveys; (3) data on sexual orientation and gender identity should be collected in electronic health records; (4) NIH should support the development and standardization of sexual orientation and gender identity measures; (5) NIH should support methodological research that relates to LGBT health; and (6) a comprehensive research training approach should be created to strengthen LGBT health research at NIH; and (7) NIH should encourage grant applicants to address explicitly the inclusion or exclusion of sexual and gender minorities in their samples.
The Center applauds this report as a critical step in addressing the drastic health inequities facing LGBT people. This reinforces the efforts we have been engaged in for decades to ensure that LGBT people receive the vital health care they need, including preventative care. Our community still regularly encounters structural and systematic barriers to care that have engendered widespread health disparities. The IOM report verifies what we have known from 28 years of community and evidence-based practice and it will play a key role in bolstering prevention practices for LGBT people nationwide.
According to a post by Metroweekly this was also welcome news to a key legislative ally:
In a statement about the report, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) — who has sponsored the Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act and been focused on addressing LGBT health concerns in her time in Congress — said, “For years, in Congressional hearings, briefings, and meetings, I have asked our national health policy officials and medical experts, ‘What do you know about LGBT health?’ Only to hear, ‘I have to get back to you.’ Today, we’ve gotten a well-researched and most welcome response. I am delighted that after years of advocating for more attention to LGBT health disparities, IOM’s report will bring us closer to the goal of promoting good health for all Americans.”
You can read the full report here: