对于LGBTQ人群, 朋友。ly health care is important but can be hard to find

2019年的那一天，当林赛·休(Lindsey Huie)到达医院时，她的压力已经达到了顶峰.

The inside of her chest felt ripped apart. 她在想她的四个孩子，如果她的妻子不得不来帮助她，谁来照顾他们.

但后来, one of the first things Huie was asked in the emergency room was, “我们能联系你丈夫吗??" It wasn't even really a question, s他说, but an expectation.

这意味着, instead of focusing on treating what turned out to be a torn artery in her heart, 她发现自己不得不解释, “嗯, we have a whole different kind of life going on here, 朋友。."

她活了下来. 但Huie, 他曾是职业足球运动员，现在在约巴林达担任教练和顾问, 加州, said that such affronts have happened regularly when she's needed care.

LGBTQ健康专家表示，这是一种太常见的经历，会产生严重的后果. 但他们也表示，医疗保健专业人员可以找到简单的方法来欢迎LGBTQ患者，而患者也有资源来引导他们欢迎专业人员.

LGBTQ people face the same issues as everyone else, including access to health insurance and a shortage of primary care doctors, 博士说. 小卡尔·斯特里德., an assistant professor of medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, but with an extra burden of discrimination.

A 2020 美国心脏协会 scientific statement, 是史崔德帮忙写的吗, 他说，超过一半的性少数群体(非异性恋者的广义术语)和70%的性少数群体(如变性人)成年人报告受到医疗保健专业人员的某种形式的歧视.

与此同时, 大约六分之一的LGBTQ人群表示，他们因为害怕受到歧视而避免就医, 根据… 2017年的调查 conducted for NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. 陈公共卫生学院.

A 2020年的报告 美国国家科学与工程院的一份报告称，反lgbtq歧视“对健康和福祉有直接的负面影响”，并加剧了差距. 这些差异, 根据美国心脏协会的声明, 包括越来越多的证据表明，LGBTQ成年人的心血管健康状况比异性恋同龄人更差.

The effects of such discrimination can range from demeaning to life-threatening. Streed said he has worked with patients who, 出柜之后, were turned away from doctors and had access to vital medications cut off. 更常见的问题, 他说, 可能涉及到一个医疗办公室工作人员拒绝使用一个人选择的名字或问一些与医疗无关的问题.

Huie, 40, came out publicly around age 35.

她说，非lgbtq人群可能认为出柜的压力只会发生一次. “但现实是，你会一次又一次、一次又一次地出来.例如，她不得不向许多医生解释为什么节育对她来说不是一个问题.

Dr. 塞萨尔冈萨雷斯, 罗切斯特市梅奥诊所变性人和双性人专科护理诊所的临床主任, 明尼苏达州, 她说，医疗保健专业人员可以采取许多措施来欢迎LGBTQ患者.

它可以从小线索开始, 冈萨雷斯说, 比如在办公室的网站上或大厅里发布声明，欢迎所有个人加入. Similarly, intake forms should ask about gender identity and preferred pronouns.

冈萨雷斯是一名临床健康心理学家，他同时使用他和他们的代词 2021篇文章 在《沙巴足球体育平台》杂志上发表的文章中，详细阐述了医疗团队表明他们认真对待LGBTQ患者的其他方法.

"In many regards, it's about trust," 冈萨雷斯说.

Simple measures can have big benefits, 冈萨雷斯说, who teaches medical residents and others about cultural competency. Students receive pins stating they understand LGBTQ health needs.

Attendees who wear the pins report back, "'Gosh, that has been incredible. People spontaneously tell me that they're trans, or they told me about their transgender child,’”冈萨雷斯说。.

Streed emphasized that training on such issues shouldn't stop with the physician. "Front desk staff need to be trained up about being competent, asking questions appropriately and keeping confidentiality in mind,他说.

意识到不是每个人的家庭或身体都是一样的好处可以帮助各种各样的人，而不仅仅是LGBTQ患者, 冈萨雷斯说. 跨性别儿童的家庭成员可能需要一个安全的空间来讨论因处理骚扰而产生的疲劳和抑郁. 被收养者可能会很高兴不必解释他们的家族史与他们的遗传背景不同. 接受过卵巢癌治疗的女性可能不希望被问及她已经没有的身体部位.

A health care team that shows awareness of all that, 冈萨雷斯说, 告诉病人“有人真的了解他们的健康状况。."

To find such care, both Gonzalez and Streed recommended starting with the LGBTQ+医疗保健目录. 这个免费的、可搜索的数据库列出了美国和加拿大对lgbtq友好的医生.

Streed said the Human Rights Campaign also offers 欢迎卫生系统的清单 由国家. Many cities have LGBTQ-specific health care centers, 他说. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers 一个列表 这样的中心.

在农村地区，选择可能有限, 强调承认, but some clinics offer telehealth services, 对于那些已经通过了针对性别确认护理的法律的州来说，这一点可能很重要.

Huie said her current doctor is "very LGBTQ embracive." She has several tactics for finding such care.

She looks at websites that grade physicians, asks questions in a social media group and checks with LGBTQ allies. “那, 在我看来, 是不是比你自己试着去做或者表现出来然后期待最好的结果好一点呢."

Huie, 谁不再结婚了, 认为在LGBTQ人群和他们的家庭不再被孤立和孤立之前，“我们还有很长的路要走”, 无意或无意, made to feel unwelcome by health care staff and society at large.

S他说 the problem is often not maliciousness, but ignorance. 一般人“都没有受过教育，所以有些事情超出了我们的规范。. And that's the part where I feel like we need to do a better job."