NYAPRS Note: June is national LGBTQ Pride Month, and as we celebrate in our communities across the country, it is a good time to review practices and standards in our behavioral health system for meeting the needs of people in the LGBTQ community. Cultural competence in this area is notably lacking, from engagement and assessment to effective treatment along the continuum of care. Below are six training curricula compiled by SAMHSA that may be useful in your program area. But there are a host of resources for learning more about how to integrate practices and behaviors that address the cultural needs of persons identifying on the LGBTQ spectrum. Visit SAMHSA’s resource page here for educational materials and more information.
SAMHSA: This is a list of six training curricula for behavioral health and primary care practitioners to help them assess, treat, and refer lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clients in a culturally sensitive manner. Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits are available. The list was compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and is a result of a commitment made by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve LGBT health and well-being. The list is in alphabetical order.
Effective Communication Tools for Health Professionals
A free, on-line, go-at-your-own-pace training that has helped approximately 29,700 health care professionals and students improve patient-provider communication. The course includes LGBT populations as part of an overall approach to healthcare communication and reflects HRSA’s mandate to serve the underserved in a culturally competent way. No-cost continuing education credits are available for a variety of health professionals through professional associations, who will award up to six credits. These professional associations are:
- American Medical Association
- American Nurses Association
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Pharmacists Association
- American Academy of Physician Assistants
- American Diabetes Educators Association
- American Society for Health Education
- National Association of Social Workers
HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorders in Ethnic Minority Men Who Have Sex with Men
This course was designed for behavioral healthcare professionals working with minority men who have sex with men (MSM) who have substance use disorders and are at risk for contracting HIV. Each module in this curriculum addresses the distinct needs of the following cultural/ethnic groups of minority MSM: Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian (API), American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), and African American (AA).
This curriculum was specifically designed for online use. This curriculum has the following goals:
- Becoming familiar with the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use and HIV risk of minority MSM populations
- Identifying important or unique social and cultural influences
- Increasing awareness of how subpopulations of MSM differ with respect to alcohol and other drugs and HIV related conduct
- Recognizing and leveraging the unique factors that reduce risk of HIV/AIDS; and
- Helping to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities within the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network Course 
National LGBT Health Education Center Continuing Education
The National LGBT Health Education Center offers a range of educational programs on various topics designed to meet the different learning styles, needs, and time constraints of their audiences. Their programs follow the principles of adult learning and recognize that adults are self-directed, goal-oriented learners who need to see the relevance of the educational material as well as being able to apply it to their everyday practice. A number of the educational programs offer Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education Units (CEU).
National LGBT Health Education Center Continuing Education
Nurses Health Education About LGBT (HEAL) Elders Curriculum
This curriculum for nurses focuses on teaching cultural competency in the care of LGBT older adults. The HEAL Curriculum is funded through a HRSA grant. The curriculum is available to a variety of healthcare and educational settings for nursing staff and students, as well as any other disciplines who would like to use the curriculum. The curriculum has a series of six one-hour sessions and is offered at no cost to the hosting facility and/or participant. Nurses earn 1.0 Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) contact hour for each session they attend.
Howard Brown Health Center HEAL Curriculum
A Provider’s Introduction to Substance Abuse Treatment for LGBT Individuals: Training Curriculum
SAMHSA has developed the first training curriculum specifically designed to help both administrators and clinicians address the various aspects of providing effective substance abuse treatment to LGBT individuals. The curriculum contains 22 modules to address the specific training needs of a given organization. The training covers such topics as legal issues, the “coming out” process as it relates to behavioral health, how to make a provider organization more LGBT-welcoming, and modules providing specific clinical guidance for addressing the needs of each of the LGBT populations. The curriculum contains numerous experiential exercises; therefore, trainings are most effectively offered in-person.
Addiction Technology Transfer Network LGBT
Removing the Barriers (RTB)
Removing the Barriers (RTB) is a cultural competency training program for medical and human service providers focusing on access to care issues for women-who-partner-with-women, as well as health issues specific to this population. RTB training is available in various formats including: two-hour introductory workshop, four-hour core training, or a comprehensive, 6.5-hour training. RTB was developed by the Mautner Project in 1997 through funding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a second round of funding was granted in 2003 for curriculum revisions and updates as well as to provide Training of Trainers programs to Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Programs. Continuing Medical Education credits are offered upon successful completion. Continuing education credits are also available to nurses, and social workers.
Mautner Project Removing the Barriers
http://www.samhsa.gov/lgbt/curricula.aspx