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Published Online: 21 December 2023

It’s a Start: An Online, On-Demand LGBTQ+ Mental Health Training Session for Providers Nationwide

Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an online, on-demand, and publicly accessible mental health training session on care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and all sexual-diverse and gender-diverse (LGBTQ+) individuals could improve providers’ preparedness, attitudes, and knowledge regarding care for LGBTQ+ patients.

Methods:

Between January and June 2022, participating mental health providers completed the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Development of Clinical Skills Scale (LGBT-DOCSS) before and after training.

Results:

Participants (N=322) represented various mental health specialties and all U.S. regions. LGBT-DOCSS scores significantly increased after training: for overall LGBT-DOCSS, Cohen’s d=0.77 (p<0.001); for clinical preparedness, Cohen’s d=0.68 (p<0.001); for attitudinal awareness, Cohen’s d=0.14 (p=0.014); and for basic knowledge, Cohen’s d=0.62 (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

Although participating mental health providers had improvements in the parameters assessed, small but notable gaps in their LGBTQ+ health awareness and practice remained, suggesting that LGBTQ+ education requires motivated, longitudinal, ongoing, and lifelong learning approaches.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 481 - 484
PubMed: 38124553

History

Received: 14 September 2022
Revision received: 8 September 2023
Accepted: 10 October 2023
Published online: 21 December 2023
Published in print: May 01, 2024

Keywords

  1. LGTBQ
  2. Continuing education
  3. Homophobia
  4. Attitudes toward homosexuality
  5. Cultural competence
  6. Stigma

Authors

Details

Dustin Z. Nowaskie, M.D. [email protected]
Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Nowaskie); Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis (Werner-Sleva); Department of Social Work, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor (Jacobs).
Stephen B. Werner-Sleva, M.S., M.D.
Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Nowaskie); Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis (Werner-Sleva); Department of Social Work, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor (Jacobs).
Amy K. Jacobs, L.M.S.W.
Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Nowaskie); Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis (Werner-Sleva); Department of Social Work, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor (Jacobs).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Nowaskie ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

Dr. Nowaskie is the founder and president of the nonprofit OutCare Health, which was compensated for the creation and delivery of the LGBTQ+ mental health training session used in this study. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

The views in this report represent the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the University of Southern California, Indiana University School of Medicine, or Michigan Medicine.

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