Policy Statements: Years of Addressing Gaps

For five years now we’ve been charged with pointing out gaps and best practices in the LGBT tobacco arena. Since aspects of the LGBT tobacco disparity overlap almost every health issue, funding, cultural competency, research, and of course data, this means we’ve been monitoring gaps in a wide range of areas. As more of all of our work has shifted to the policy level changes, we’ve increasingly focused on assisting in developing stronger policy responses to help advance our field. Well, we think it’s time to review some of the range of policy change documents we’ve created to make sure you have them at your fingertips to use locally. (Especially since our old resource library makes them a bit hard to find! Don’t worry the new one is almost finished.)

As a grassroots network a large amount of our documents are created by and then reviewed by the Network base. Frankly, we’d like to think we’ve got good foresight and dreamed up the idea of most of these the the truth is very different. Almost all of these documents were created because you, or some state, or federal official asked for them. So, if you need something, do like Bill Snook from Missouri just did, call us and ask if we have it, or if we can make it!

Policy Papers, Best and Promising Practices Documents:

• LGBT Cultural Competency in Funding
• Joint Statement on Data Collection: Gaps and Best Practices Series 

• Accompany Letters to Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health and Dr. 

Lawrence Deyton Director, Center for Tobacco Products U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• National Networks Joint Policy Statement 2010
 Recommendations to Include Disparate Populations In Health Funding Awards
• Policy Statement on Comprehensive Cessation Services
• National Disparities Networks Joint Statement to National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
• Moving Forward with LGBT Health: First Steps for the Federal Government
  
• Promising Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program identifying and eliminating LGBT disparities 
• Policy Statement: LGBT Cultural Competence in Smoking Treatment Quitlines
• State LGBT Tobacco Disparities Best Practices

Policy Comments/Testimony (list still in formation):

• COMMENTS ON THE NATIONAL PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION STRATEGY (NATIONAL PREVENTION STRATEGY) 
• OMH Health Equity Plan: Network Comments
• Public Testimony to the National Advisory Council on Minority Health & Health Disparities
• The Network’s Comments on the National Prevention Strategy Draft
• Public Testimony on Center for Tobacco Products Stakeholder Discussion Series Session focusing on Minority Communities and Groups Affected by Tobacco-Related Health Disparities
• A Success from Speaking Out at SAMHSA Advisory Council Meeting!

Other Documents:

• LGBT People and Tobacco Fact Sheet
• LGBT Surveillance and Data Collection Briefing Paper
• LGBT People and Smoke-Free Air Fact Sheet 

We know we’ve missed a few, we’ll work hard to add them in the coming days.