LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series

The LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series is an assortment of modules and interactive trainings that provides affirming education, applicable skills, and best practices needed to advocate and improve health outcomes for LGBTQ+ patients.The series is specifically designed for healthcare students, professionals and anyone else interested in LGBTQ+ advocacy to address the significant health disparities faced by the LGBTQ+ community. The LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series is recommended by 99% of its participants. Read testimonials here. 

2021-2022 LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series

Registration

You can register here for the 2021-2022 LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series. The deadline to complete all four Content Modules and one Patient Simulation Session is March 31, 2022. 

The LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series is free for students and offered to professionals and other community members for a nominal fee of $30. The charge will come as a one-time fee for a Patient Simulation Session in order to assist in covering the costs of the series. Participants will earn a certificate of completion for completing the series.

Continuing Education credits will be offered for MDs, DOs, Nursing, Social Work, and Psychology. 

Requirements

1.      Complete at least 4 Content Modules 

Each content module is approximately 1 hour each and can be completed by:

• Attending a live module either in person or via Zoom (Note: There will be five live sessions offered in the 2021-2022 academic year.)
• Or, by watching a recorded module from previous years. To date, there are 30 modules from previous years available for viewing (link below under Online Modules). The 2021-2022 virtual modules will also be available online within 2 weeks of the event. Please note that continuing education credits cannot be offered for recorded modules.

2.     Attend a Patient Simulation Session. There will be one Patient Simulation Session over Zoom in Spring 2022. During the Patient Simulation session, you will have the opportunity to interact with LGBTQ+ community members in real time and practice skills. We will also have online Patient Simulation modules available later this Fall. We recommend live sessions because we believe the interaction is key, but we are only able to offer one live session this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Patient Simulation Session is free for students. Faculty, staff, and community members will be charged a $30 fee for registration to cover the costs of the certificate.  

2021-2022 Events

Live Virtual Content Modules

1. Front Desk, Forms & Structures
   Facilitated by Bláz Bush, M.Ed. (Bláz or he/him/his)
   Date: Thursday, August 26, 2021
   Time: Noon – 1:00 pm
   Platform: Zoom
   

   Despite the work of many healthcare providers to create an inclusive and affirming space, LGBTQ+ patients often encounter their first barriers in the healthcare system well before they ever sit in front of their provider. This session will highlight common harmful and outdated language that centers cis-hetero-normativity, engage participants in activities to practice identifying trouble spots, and demonstrate a process for re-writing  forms to be more affirming. The hope is to take the rainbow flag from the clinic window and make LGBTQ+ inclusion action in practice on the forms. 
   Register for this session.

2. The Intersection of Fatphobia and LGBTQ+ Health
   Facilitated by Goldie (they/them)
   Date: Thursday, September 16, 2021
   Time: Noon – 1:00 pm
   Platform: Zoom
   Register for this session.
   
   
3. Thriving Not Surviving: Transgender and Nonbinary Healthcare, Today and the Future
   Facilitated by Chance Krempasky, APRN (he/him/his)
   Date: Thursday, October 21, 2021
   Time: Noon – 1:00 pm
   Register for this session.
   
4. The Impact of Racism on LGBTQ+ Health & Healthcare
   Facilitated by Aaron Weathers II, M.A. (he/she/they) 
   Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2021
   Time: Noon - 1:00 PM
   Platform: Zoom
   

   Register for this session.

5. TBA
   Date: Spring 2022
   
   

Patient Simulation Session 

The patient simulation sessions are charged at a $30 fee for healthcare professionals and community members (to match the in person sessions) in order to assist in covering the costs of the series. These modules will still be offered for free for students. Follow this link for the payment portal. 

• Live Patient Simulation Session
  Facilitated by LGBT Center Staff and others from the LGBTQ+ community
  Date: Spring 2022
  Time: 
  Platform: 
  Register for this session.

Our Patient Simulation sessions offer an interactive and highly effective approach to learning in which LGBTQ+ community members act out patient encounters with participants and offer feedback. Participants will be placed in small groups and given the opportunity to practice taking scenario-based sexual and social histories with volunteer members of the LGBTQ+ community. We recommend this session because we believe the live interaction is the key to learning. Unfortunately, we are only able to offer one live session this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Online Patient Simulation Modules
  

  We are excited to announce a new self-paced Online Patient Simulation Modules. These modules allow people to have the experience of the Patient Simulation Session at a time that is most convenient to them, or even over time at their own pace. The Online Patient Simulation is 3 modules that facilitate an interactive learning environment. Completion of all three modules is required in order to complete the series and for this to count as the Patient Simulation. It will take approximately 30 minutes to complete the three modules. Each module will have the same set of reflection questions at the end with instructions on how to complete them. When you finish please submit them to LGBT@louisville.edu.

  Online Patient Simulation Modules 

  ***You must attend one Patient Simulation Session in order to earn a certificate of completion. Participation in this year's series will not roll over to next year. 

Aaron Weathers, LGBT Center Assistant Director, leading a LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series session in spring 2018

Previously Recorded Modules

• Visit our YouTube channel to locate online modules: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwmtwsFKkz1U4nMcV8iVLgg
• After you review an online module, complete an online assessment to receive credit towards your certificate of completion. Please note, continuing education credits cannot be provided for online modules. 

 For more information about the 2021-2022 LGBTQ+ Affirming Healthcare Series, please email lgbt@louisville.edu.