Lesbian Health Research Research Articles

GLMA grants for lesbian health research

Corporate Philanthropy ReportVolume 38, Issue 2 p. 15-15 Grant Alerts GLMA grants for lesbian health research First published: 17 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/cprt.31518Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume38, Issue2February 2023Pages 15-15 RelatedInformation

Commentary: Gender and Health

Feminists introduced the concept of gender several decades ago to distinguish between biological sex and the social construction of masculinity and femininity. This distinction has enabled health researchers to move beyond comparative analyses of male and female morbidity and mortality rates (though there is still room for improvement as the breakdown of health statistics by sex is not universal beyond vital statistics). Researchers use the concept of gender to study the impact of womens status in society on their health and healthcare. It is not enough to know for example that women live longer than men (except in Afghanistan) or that womens deeper poverty limits their access to health services. We need to know the economic social and political mechanisms of prejudice and discrimination that lead to ill health and poor healthcare for women and men. The concept of gender has also opened up the fields of gay and lesbian health research and led to the study of the transgendered; these studies proved critical to preventing of the spread of HIV. (excerpt)

A brief telephone interview to identify lesbian and bisexual women in random digit dialing sampling

Lesbian health research has most often relied on nonprobability samples that are biased and restrict generalizability. Random sampling could reduce bias, but requires development of a method for fast and reliable screening of a large number of women. We tested the feasibility of using a brief telephone interview to assess sexual attraction, behavior, and identity. Using Random Digit Dialing in a neighborhood of Boston with a high density of lesbian residents, we interviewed 202 women aged 18 to 59. Of the respondents, 33% reported some sexual attraction to other women, 20% reported sex with women since age 18, and 14% identified as a lesbian. The high level of cooperation with the study among eligible women (94%) and the high proportion of women who disclosed homosexual attraction, behavior, or identity show that it is feasible to use a brief screening questionnaire about sexuality of women over the telephone even without building special rapport with the respondents.

Advocacy Meets the Scientific Method

ABSTRACT Dr. Judith Bradford is a social science researcher who has been a key figure in the evolution of lesbian health research. With Caitlin Ryan, Judy was instrumental in creating the National Lesbian Health Care Survey (NLHCS) in the mid-1980s. After assuming the Directorship of the Survey and Evaluation Research Lab (SERL) at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), she became involved in the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee process, which resulted in increased attention to lesbian health at the national level. The IOM Committee recommendations have been instrumental in lobbying efforts by Judy and others for inclusion of LBGT issues in Healthy People 2010, the United States Public Health Service blueprint used by PHS agencies nationwide. Judy's current activities include helping to develop the Lesbian Health Research Institute and serving as the part-time Director of Lesbian Health Research at Fenway Community Health in Boston.

Expanding the research infrastructure for lesbian health.

Interest in research about lesbian health has increased dramatically since the late 1980s and gained national attention in 1999 when the Institute of Medicine published the groundbreaking report Lesbian Health: Current Assessment and Directions for the Future. In March 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services and partner organizations presented the Scientific Workshop on Lesbian Health, during which invited experts on lesbian health worked with federal representatives to develop action steps to implement recommendations in the Institute of Medicine report. National priorities were thus established for the emerging field of lesbian health research. Although researchers of various sexual orientation and gender identities will contribute to this field, lesbian researchers have a unique perspective and an important role to play. This commentary focuses on the preparedness of these individuals to respond to challenges set forth by the Institute of Medicine and Scientific Workshop reports. Despite differences in their academic backgrounds, lesbian researchers have reported common experiences and needs. Substantial proportions have encountered barriers because they were lesbians or conducted lesbian research, and many expressed willingness to mentor others, to help others to conduct research about lesbians, or both.

Undercounts and overstatements: will the IOM report on lesbian health improve research?

In January 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report on lesbian health research that fulfills 3 goals: it provides an extensive review of much of the research that has been done on the health of women who have sex with other women, it addresses the methodological and ethical issues inherent in conducting research on this population, and it suggests avenues for further research. This report will likely help lesbian health researchers gain funding, publish further research in medical journals, and receive support and validation from medical and research institutions. To ensure that such research is useful, benefits the lesbian community, and expands the understanding of lesbian health conditions, particular attention needs to be paid to the methods and definitions used and to the involvement of the lesbian community in designing, implementing, and analyzing the research itself.

Editorial: Wanted: Sexual Minorities

The Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first?” skit can tell us a few things about the state of research into the health of sexual minorities today. We have very little population-based data from which to make policy proposals and even decisions, and therefore we know very little about health issues from a broad and representative range of respondents. Elizabeth Gruskin’s study in this issue brings us one step closer. This study presents a good piece of research from several perspectives. First, the scientific study of survey techniques and potential sources of bias associated with those techniques is of critical importance to the general health research field. The sample that formed the basis of this paper was of good quality and drawn from an important population from which we can generalize. Therefore, we are able to speak to the representativeness of these respondents to a larger extent than is possible in other research. These kinds of methodological contributions will allow the field to move forward with a solid research agenda. These data parallel some of the findings presented at the Institute of Medicine’s hearings on the state of Lesbian health research. At that meeting, we presented data from the baseline assessments of the Women’s Health Initiative, a national study of the health of women aged 50–79 (1). In that study a single variable on the sex of sexual partners was collected as part of the baseline battery of surveys. The rate of missing data for the sexual orientation question was 2%, comparable to other, less “sensitive” questions (2). The missing rate for the income question was higher, at 6%. Given the low levels of missing data for questions on sexual orientation, comparable or better

Developing a Lesbian Health Research Program: Fenway Community Health Center’s Experience and Evolution

The Fenway Community Health Center (FCHC) was founded in 1971 as part of the free clinic movement and rapidly developed expertise in caring for gay men, lesbians, elderly persons, and college students. With the advent of the AIDS epidemic, FCHC developed one of the largest panels of persons living with HIV in New England and, concomitant with the rise in the HIV+ census in the clinical practice, developed a research department to undertake cohort studies of men who have sex with men. Partnerships with academic medical centers and federal research agencies facilitated the conduct of large-scale therapeutic and prevention interventions. FCHC also developed a wide array of programs for lesbians: comprehensive primary care including the provision of gynecological services and alternative insemination, individual and group counselling, and programs designed to address substance use, domestic violence, and post-traumatic stress syndromes. The increasing utilization of these services raised many questions for providers about how to understand lesbians’ health across the life continuum. To develop a research infrastructure for lesbian health and mental health research, FCHC established a multidisciplinary task force and has held two annual research forums to attract researchers and to engage the wider community. Four working groups are in the process of securing federal funding to support a robust lesbian health research effort.

Emergence of an Infrastructure for Lesbian Health Research

Emergence of an Infrastructure for Lesbian Health Research