Culturally Competent Clinical Care for Older Sexual Minority Adults: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Abstract

As recent efforts to improve culturally competent clinical care (CCCC) have largely overlooked older LGB adults, we conducted a scoping review of position statements, empirical, and non-empirical research and suggest action steps. We followed PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Guidelines and searched for articles 1/1/11-3/14/19 (n = 1210) and other resources (n = 52), deduplicating, dually screening abstracts (n = 1,156), reviewing full-text (n = 107), and conducted a content analysis to identify distinct and cross-cutting domains (n = 44). Most research was based on simple pre/post-training differences in provider knowledge. A majority of sources were non-empirical. We identified three distinct domains (education & staffing, physical environment, and inclusive language & communication) and three cross-cutting domains (subgroup differences, research, and policy). Sparse empirical data that specify best approaches to improve CCCC exist; nevertheless, providers, in collaboration with researchers and policy makers, can initiate improved practices aimed at increasing CCCC for older LGB patients.