Lesbian
Health Research Center
Wellness Coach to Lesbian Nation,
Sensitivity Training for Medical Professionals
by Jeanine K. Reisbig for the San
Francisco Spectrum
 |
At monthly LHRC
Health Salon (l to r) Audrey Koh, MD, LHRC Advisory
Council; Patricia Robertson, MD, LHRC Co-Director;
Jan Corlett, PhD, Community Leadership Circle Co-Chair;
Linda M. Scaparotti, Esq; and Ester Rothblum, PhD. |
San Francisco’s UC Medical Center is home to one
of San Francisco’s most distinctive non- profit organizations,
the Lesbian Health Research Center. From the seed of an
idea planted in July 1999 by UCSF faculty members Suzanne
Dibble, DNSc, and Patty Robertson, MD, the Center is an
idea whose time has come. With much support from the spectrum
of the Bay Area’s lesbian community it has grown
extensively into an organization whose influence and connections
range from local to international. LHRC is now located
in the University of California’s Institute for Health
and Aging, and fits perfectly with the Institutes goals
of serving all women across their life span, including
lesbians, bisexual and trangendered women.
Why study the health care, needs and medical treatment
of these women? Susan E. Gentry, speaking at Health
Care for Women International, 1992, states…"
(medical) providers must have an understanding of the
unique health concerns of homosexual people in order to
provide sensitive and knowledgeable health care..."
Lesbians and other questioning women’s needs and
health care status are woefully under represented in formal
health care studies. Many lesbians, bisexual and transgendered
women have also had difficult experiences with health
care providers, ranging from feeling misunderstood or
unheard, being subjected to unnecessary questions, criticism,
receiving substandard care when found not to be straight,
and sometimes even having the practitioner leave the room
when they were discovered to not be a standard heterosexual.
Because of difficult experiences such as these, many lesbians,
bisexual women and transgenders may delay seeking any
type of medical care.
Lesbian Health Research Center’s founders are also
the two current co- directors. Suzanne Dibble recalls
that when making presentations to doctors about lesbian’s
and their health care needs, she became tired of not having
any data to support her statements, only her own observations
and the anecdotes she had collected over the years. Her
professional knowledge lead her to believe that the type
of "lesbian sensitivity training" she provided
to the straight medical establishment would have much
more credibility when backed up by data filled studies.
Since 1999, she, Dr. Patty Robertson, and LHRC’s
several dozen staff members, advisors, consultants, volunteers
and other supporters have been very busy filling in gaps
in education about lesbian health issues.
Thanks to them and others across the country interested
in bettering the health of lesbians as well as their bisexual
and transgendered sisters, LHRC’s activities now
include a speaker’s bureau, newsletter, lesbian health
salons, workshops, research studies, resources, lots of
links, educational films and annual conferences. Anyone
interested in what’s happening can log onto LHRC’s
website, www.lesbianhealthinfo.org.
It is a most important part of the effort to facilitate
the broad and efficient distribution of information gathered
by LHRC to interested members of the lesbian, bi-sexual
and transgendered women’s communities.
Of course, the LHRC website is not a substitute
for medical care, but there is so much data, facts, ideas,
links, friendly commentary, and wonderful purpose stated
that it serves as an international wellness coach for
our lesbian nation.
Lesbian Health Info is a well organized, ever expanding
"smorgasboard" of information on all matters
pertaining to the health of women’s whose sexual/gender
orientation is non- traditional. Right now, glancing through
the various, well laid out, lay-readable pages,
one senses that in the next few months, LHRC’s site
has the potential for an even more relevant explosion
of facts, data, studies, use full examples, ad infinitum.
It’s a great place to add to one’s knowledge
of selfcare, partner care, what’s current, where
to go with your questions, and much more.
The LHRC website’s current table of contents lists
12 sections, beginning with a home page listing featured
events, lesbian health topics --
- "Ask the Doctor" (e mails are answered
in about 24 hours), index of news letters and research
projects.
 "About
Us" includes FAQ’s, LHRC’s mission
statement, objectives, research, training, public service
and much more about this evolving organization.
- "Your Health" directly addresses
the individual and topics of common concern to many
lesbian, bi- and trans-women where they may feel most
vulnerable.
- "How To Communicate With Your Health Care
Provider: Have Your Body Resume And Your Questions Ready"
is an excellent guide to empower oneself in preparation
for a physical exam. Depression, breast cancer screening
and care, smoking, hormone replacement therapy, current
research issues and sexually transmitted diseases are
a few of the other common concerns listed here.
If website visitors have additional topics they would
like to see addressed, suggestions may be submitted to
Dr. Betty L. Sullivan BettyS@lesbianhealthinfo.org.
The LHRC website also notes its annual health conferences
and provides extensive details about the June 2002 and
2003 events. The first conference was held in began June
2001and its theme was "Challenges of the New Millenium".
The notes on the conferences in June 2002 " Health
Issues and Concerns of Diverse Lesbian Communities "
and June 2003 " Lesbian Health Matters: A Conference
for LBTQ Women " make fascinating, informative,
and very relevant reading.
For those who are interested, registration basics for
the up coming fourth annual LHRC Conference Lesbians,
Health & the Law is also on the LHRC
website. A complete registration page will be on
the website soon. The lesbian health conference will be
held on June 19, 2004, and is co-sponsored
by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The
theme of this event addresses the need for the LBT (Lesbian,
Bisexual, and Trans gender) community to understand our
rights, responsibilities and options in planning for a
healthy future.
Other regular Lesbian Health Research Center events
include its monthly Salon series, initiated by Community
Leadership Circle Co-Chair Jan Corlett, PhD. Each salon
includes a "meet and mingle" reception, basic
information on how lesbian health issues differ from women’s
health in general, followed by an informal, interactive
discussion on a topic relevant to lesbian, bi- and transgendered
women. These talks, are free flowing in format and provide
an on-going forum to meet and mingle, introduce newcomers
to LHRC and enjoy an informal discussion on selected issues.
January 2004’s Lesbian Health Salon included 2 dynamite
lesbian speakers. Attorney Linda M. Scaparrotti spoke
eloquently on the rights, responsibilities and omissions
in the forthcoming domestic partnership bill, AB205. She
also brought stacks of really great handouts to supplement
her points. Vermont psychologist Esther Rothblum, PhD,
who is spending her sabbatical in San Francisco at the
Lesbian Health Research Center, synopsized the results
of her study re: 400 couples who had Vermont civil unions
and their married, heterosexual siblings. Topics surveyed
included general demographics (education, length of relationship,
division of housework, childcare, finances, social support,
outness) as well as the implications of the study and
some great comments from the respondents. These two speakers,
and the dialog that followed with the Salon’s attendees,
was interesting, exciting, and a bit scary all at once.
The Lesbian Health Salon Series are held monthly at various
locations in San Francisco. February is National Heart
Month, so the topic is "Heart Disease Risk Among
Lesbians," and the featured speakers are Stephanie
Roberts, MD, and Jane Mallet, MD. The March Lesbian Health
Salon is entitled "What Makes Life Worth Living",
and the speaker is Pam Walton. In addition, a film "Liberty,
3 Stories about Life and Death", will be shown.
And, Brain Awareness Week activities, (March 15-21, 2004),
can be found at www.dana.org/brainweek/.
Following that, April’s Lesbian Health Salon features
Ellen Haller, MD, speaking on "Lesbian Mental
Health: What’s the Same, and What is Different?"
May’s salon will review "How or Why is
Lesbian Health Different from Women’s Health in General?"
There is no Salon in June 2004 as the 4th annual
conference, co-hosted by the Lesbian Health Research Center
and National Center for Lesbian Rights, will be held on
June 19, 2004, in San Francisco.
For more details on LHRC Health Salon topics and locations,
contact Dr. Betty L. Sullivan: LHRCenter@aol.com
Resources and links make up a valuable, fascinating portion
of the LHRC website. There is enormous potential for learning
and useful connections here. The resource page lists over
30 articles and publications by LGBT professionals. Areas
covered include reports on the national lesbian health
care surveys, expanding research infrastructure for lesbian
health, studies comparing breast cancer treatment between
lesbians and non lesbians, identity development in gay
& lesbian adolescents. A timeline of 20 presentations
made by staff and professionals associated with LHRC range
from supervision issues for gay and lesbian psychiatric
patients, reproductive issues for lesbians, and breast
cancer updates.
The links page lists contact information on over 20 organizations,
books and publications relevant to the lesbian community
and its health concerns, including the Gay and Lesbian
Medical Association, Lyon Martin Women’s Health Services,
and National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The goals, variety of topics addressed, public service,
speakers bureau, research projects, reports on salons
and conferences makes the Lesbian Health Research Center’s
website www.lesbianhealthinfo.org
a most useful website for anyone who loves lesbians, bi-sexual
and transgendered women. It contains tools for consumers,
professionals and whole communities. It is designed not
only for lesbians, but for those in the medical profession
whose stereotypes of female medical care as ob-gyn issues
only prevent them from looking at the real spectrum of
both non-traditional as well as traditional women’s
medical needs.
With all that their website is, LHRC is well on their
way to fulfilling their mission statement "…to
enhance clinical practice and inform policy about the
health care needs of and delivery of services to lesbians,
bisexual women, and transgendered individuals through
a program of research, post-graduate education and training,
and public service."
Useful contacts for Lesbian Health Research Center
Website- www.lesbianhealthinfo.org
Lesbian Health Salon Series info- LHRC@aol.com
(Dr. Betty L. Sullivan)
To suggest content for website- BettyS@lesbianhealthinfo.org
To Book Speakers: contact
Lesbian Health Research Center Institute for Health and
Aging
University of California, Laurel Heights
3333 California Street Suite 340
San Francisco CA 94118
Phone 415.502.5200
Fax 415.502.5208
Email info@lesbianhealthinfo.org
Brain Awareness Week is March 15-21, 2004- www.dana.org/brainweek/.
Contact Jeanine K. Reisbig at jeaninekreisbig@yahoo.com
Website: www.gayweddingphotographer.com
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