Healthy People 2020: LGBT Update

Healthy People as an organization has one major overall goal; for all walks of life to have long, happy and healthy lives. The topic of LGBT communities grabbed my attention, yet for reasons more than their actual health issues. The main challenges that the LGBT community faces which hinder their healthcare opportunities are social discrimination and lack of awareness (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014).

To me it is crucial to become more aware and understanding of this culture since them being deemed as ‘different’ increases the likelihood of mistreatment within the healthcare environment as well as being more prone to the health issues we all face as human. There are States still considering the limitation of rights for transgender students at the school place (National Conference of State Legislation, 2017). If there are still nationwide and public discrepancies against a particular group of individuals, we can only imagine the thoughts and feelings some people have toward the LGBT community as a whole.

This mindset can severely limit the growth of us as a country and the lives of the people in it. This separation also leads to many health issues for the LGBT community that go unaddressed. LGBT youth are 2 to 3 times as likely to attempt suicide, be homeless, as well as abuse tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2014). I believe they must feel ostracized and then turn to these destructive substances. These poor life choices give a chance to have them placed within a health care facility where the staffing and protocol are more than likely to be ill equipped to facilitate their basic human needs of care and belonging.

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Hopefully the goals of Healthy People 2020 can be fulfilled so violence (lateral/physical), discrimination and healthcare neglect toward LGBT Americans can be put to an end.

References:

National Conference of State Legislation. (2017) “Bathroom Bill” Legislative Tracking. Retrieved January 16, 2018 from http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/-bathroom-bill-legislative-tracking635951130.aspx (Links to an external site.)

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2014). Healthy People 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2018 from https://www.healthypeople.gov