Project Description:
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face unique barriers in accessing and navigating the healthcare system. LGBT people with IDD want providers who presume competence, communicate in accessible ways, show respect, and validate autonomy. If knowledgeable and competent, providers can improve healthcare quality, yet they rarely learn about the needs of LGBT people with IDD. Providers need guidance on implementing accommodations and want training that models culturally competent care and provides practical strategies to support patients within inaccessible and unsupportive healthcare environments.
This project aims to improve the cultural competence and humility of healthcare providers of LGBT patients with IDD through a collaborative intervention mapping process. This project builds on findings from an intensive year one scoping review and qualitative assessment of community needs to design a theory driven, evidence-based training for healthcare providers to improve access to and quality of care for LGBT people with IDD.
Objective 1: Collaboratively determine training objectives and learning outcomes. Determine the scope, sequence, and elements of a training to accomplish these goals. Objective 2: Develop all training content, learning activities, pre- and post-tests to assess training outcomes, and supplemental tools and resources that promote disability inclusive and sexuality and gender affirming healthcare practices. Objective 3: Recruit 10 healthcare providers to engage in user testing of the drafted training to assess usability and acceptability. Elicit feedback including how easy the training was to complete, whether it met providers' needs, and areas of improvement. Develop a plan to revise and finalize the training for full-scale implementation and evaluation.
This project addresses gaps in sexuality and gender inclusive care for people with IDD by increasing knowledge and building capacity among healthcare providers to recognize and respond more holistically to meet the unique needs of the people they serve.
