Celebrate Pride Month with these important tools from the National SOGIE Center & partners

By Angela Weeks, DBA, Director, National SOGIE Center, project director, Center of Excellence on LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity 

Pride month is a month celebrated around the world that signifies the resilience and the strides the LGBTQI+ community has made in visibility and recognition. Some LGBTQ+ people take time to celebrate, build new friendships, advocate, or reflect on the LGBTQI+ community’s rich history. However, there is still work to be done.

We are experiencing one of the most tumultuous times in recent history for the LGBTQI+ community and those who support them, with a constant threat to the well-being and health of LGBTQI+ people through a barrage of anti-LGBTQI+, and predominantly anti-trans, laws going into effect across the country.

This Pride Month, we call on providers to be visible allies to LGBTQI+ people by adding statements of support to your websites, adding pronouns to the names of staff in your directories, putting LGBTQI+ symbols and messaging in places your clients will see them, attending trainings on the population, and working to make your practices as affirming and appropriate as possible.

To aid in this call to action, we want to highlight important tools from the National SOGIE Center and the Center of Excellence on LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity that can help providers show up as affirming supporters and allies.

The ATTC Network recognizes June as Pride Month, in which we recognize the unique challenges faced by LGBTQIA2+ individuals. We stand with the members of our staff, our communities, and those we serve, and continue to strive to create safer spaces for all. find resources and support from our network and partners, celebrating Pride Month. 

• CLAS Webinar Series : Building Bridges of Inclusion: Empowering LGBTQ+ Awareness and Allyship (webinar on Thursday, June 29, hosted by Central East ATTC)
  • The purpose of this webinar is to integrate CLAS Standards of care with ways to build bridges of equity and inclusion within a healthcare setting for meaningful service to the LGTBQ+ community.
  • Learn more & register here. 

• Reframing Language Guide (National Hispanic & Latino ATTC, February 2023):

  • This free resource is designed to bring attention to the power of person-first language. The guide was created in collaboration by the National Family Support Technical Assistance Center, the National Federation of Families, the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities on Aging, the Center of Excellence on LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity, Severe Mental Illness Advisor, the National Alliance on Mental Health, and SAMHSA. 

• El consumo de sustancias en la comunidad LGBTQ+ (Northeast & Caribbean ATTC, June 2022):
  • This Spanish-language module makes visible the effects of stigmatization and marginalization in the LGBTQ+ community and how they are more likely to present depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, compared to the heterosexual population. Health service providers will learn about LGBTQ+ population, be able to understand the social determinants that affect them and identify their needs. Also, they will learn language free of stigma and how to integrate sensitivity approaches and intervention strategies that respect their diversity. 
• Facilitating Trauma-Informed Culture Change in Recovery-Oriented Systems: A Consultant’s Guide (Mid-America ATTC, February 2023):
  • SAMHSA has included Trauma-Informed Care among its designated best practices for many reasons. Trauma-Informed Care can bring about transformation that takes place on many levels of an organization.

  • This ongoing system-wide approach that is grounded in a scientific understanding of trauma can make service relationships much safer for both clients and staff, not only in SUD treatment facilities, but in all mental health settings.

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  • Our colleagues at the Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network have a host of products and resources addressing substance use prevention among LGBTQ+ individuals available on their website: 

    • Liberation Approaches in LGBTQ Behavioral Health and The Crossroads of Racial and Sexual/Gender Identity (developed by Central East ATTC & PTTC, April 2023)
    • Working to Promote Protection by Supporting LGBTQ+ Teens in Foster Care (developed by Northwest PTTC, January 2023)

• Our colleagues at the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network have created a landing page with resources supporting LGBTQ+ mental health. These resources are for professionals, the community, and allies:
  
  • Supporting the Mental Health of Transgender People (webinar, Wednesday, June 21) 

  • Creating Affirming Environments for LGBTQ People Receiving Services (virtual training, Friday, June 23)

Screening for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in Primary Care – A New Symptom Checklist 

More than 55 million adults in the United States use cannabis or other drugs, and approximately 7% meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder (SUD). However, the number of patients that receive such a diagnosis is much lower (0.8-4.6%). Low rates of diagnosis make it harder for patients to receive treatment and other supports to help them reduce or stop their use.

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical use of a new screener, the Substance Use Symptom Checklist, using data collected as part of routine care after Kaiser Permanente Washington began using it to screen patients who reported daily cannabis or other drug use.

Centering Culture in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder with American Indian & Alaska Native Communities

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities are disproportionately impacted by the opioid overdose epidemic. Though past-year rates of opioid misuse are similar between AI/AN communities and non-Hispanic whites, the proportion of overdose deaths among AI/AN populations is higher and varies by state and region.

This article reports on a two-day meeting of a board tasked with developing an implementation intervention for AI/AN clinical programs to improve the delivery of MOUD.

The National Council for Mental Well-Being  supports and celebrates its LGBTQ+ staff, members and clients, while reaffirming its commitment to health equity for all LGBTQ+ persons. Find out more about the ways the National Council is doing that by visiting their Pride Month landing page. 

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