Investigators
Internal: Associate Professor Yael Perry, Dr Penelope Strauss, Dr Bep Uink, Dr Helen Morgan, Ms Holly Moss
External: Professor Braden Hill, Associate Professor Jeneva Ohan, Associate Professor Helen Wilcox
Project description
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) individuals are at higher risk of mental health difficulties than the wider Australian population. This is largely due to experiences of stigma and discrimination, and is compounded by lack of access to informed, sensitive, and tailored healthcare. While positive healthcare experiences support improved mental health and service engagement within the LGBTQIA+ population, negative experiences are associated with poorer mental health.
Health professionals report a lack of knowledge, confidence, and competence in supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals and have identified inadequate training on LGBTQIA+ identities, experiences, and health as the core reason for these deficits. They also report a desire to increase their knowledge on LGBTQIA+ health. By addressing these gaps amongst health professionals to work with this population, there is significant potential to improve healthcare experiences and, in turn, mental health outcomes in LGBTQIA+ individuals.
This research aims to improve the mental health of LGBTQIA+ individuals through enhanced inclusive practice training for trainee health professionals. These aims will be achieved through an audit of current LGBTQIA+ inclusive practice curricular in Australian tertiary settings, collaboratively developing a tailored LGBTQIA+ inclusive practice curriculum for medical and professional psychology students and evaluating the curriculum.
Project outputs
This project will result in the development of a self-directed, digital, and modular LGBTQIA+ inclusive practice training program for medical and psychology students in tertiary education programs.
Funders of the project
This project was funded by Healthway.
External collaborators
School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia; Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong; Living Proud; TransFolk of WA; Australian Medical Student Association (AMSA) Queer; Australian Psychological Society.