411 on New Federal Resource: Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations

by Scout, Ph.D.

Everyone kept asking, have you read it? Not yet, I kept saying, but we definitely passed it on to the Network members. Well, I was missing something indeed. Take a few moments and crack the most recent SAMHSA release, Top Health Issues for LGBT Populations, Information and Resource Kit, it’ll be worth your time.

The downloadable Health Kit is a concise set of 2-3 page summary sheets reviewing the top health issues for L/G/B/T populations individually, sorted by physical health, behavioral health, and substance abuse. There’s a great intro about gender ID, terminology listings, each summary has plenty of citations, and there’s a great web resource listing in the back end.

I think these really might be the long awaited successor to those L/G/B/T health fact sheets that were released then recalled 1.5 yrs ago as HP2020 was released. (Wanna compare? Cause you know we wouldn’t let you down, of course we saved copies of those sheets when they went up, see em here.)

But why just fact sheets when you can download slides too? Looking to train people on LGBT health issues (like we do all the time)? Now you have a federally approved set of slides to show. Following the info kit, the slides go through terminology, intro, special attention to gender ID issues, then review the top health problems for each group.

I thought for a second that tobacco was left out, which I knew the SAMHSA folk wouldn’t do, then I realized it was in the substance abuse slide — not unreasonably. Maybe I even like company it is now keeping. What do you think?

All in all — great resource, excellent job SAMHSA!

Special shoutout too to our long friend there, the woman who I first met when she was the fed in charge of the long ago HP2010 LGBT Companion Document — Dr. Nancy Kennedy. Nancy’s retired now, so this may be her last big contribution for HHS – but her leadership will live on for many years.