PHILADELPHIA — The American College of Physicians (ACP) today released the second edition of The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health during its annual scientific meeting, Internal Medicine Meeting 2015.
The textbook is edited by Dr. Harvey Makadon, Dr. Ken Mayer, and Hilary Goldhammer of The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, and Dr. Jennifer Potter of Fenway Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Written for clinicians, students, public health professionals, researchers, and policymakers about the unique health care needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, its goal is to help the health care community in making their practices welcoming, inclusive of, and educated about LGBT patients. The new edition has been updated, with approximately 80 percent new content, to address the clinical and social changes that have emerged over the past eight years, since the first edition was published.
“We are pleased to publish this significantly updated Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health,” said Dr. David Fleming, president, ACP. “The book is a valuable resource that addresses common health disparities experienced by LGBT patients and how health care providers, students, and trainees of all disciplines and specialties of medicine, along with researchers, policymakers and public health professionals can improve the health of this population.”
In addition to having the same basic health needs as the general population, LGBT individuals often experience disparities in health and access to health care. For example:
- LGBT youth are at increased risk of homelessness, bullying and victimization, and suicide attempts;
- LGBT people smoke at much higher rates than the general population; they also may be more likely to use alcohol and drugs;
- Young men who have sex with men and transgender women are infected with HIV at alarming rates, and need better access to prevention and care for HIV and sexually transmitted infections;
- LGBT people may experience a high burden of depression, anxiety, and self-harm behaviors often due to social minority stressors;
- Lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to receive preventive screening for cervical cancer than heterosexual women;
- Transgender people experience discrimination in health care and bear a high burden of trauma and suicide.
“As medical and public health providers, it is our responsibility to be familiar with emerging LGBT health issues so that we are delivering high quality care in an environment that is welcoming and inclusive,” said Dr. Makadon, director of the National LGBT Health Education Center at The Fenway Institute and clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Without feeling affirmed, people will not come for prevention or care. We must facilitate dialogue about behaviors and situations that result in these health care disparities so that patients are comfortable being honest and open with us. Communication between physicians and patients is fundamental to providing quality health care.”
The Fenway Guide contains chapters on subjects covering the lifecourse, including chapters on coming out, caring for youth, family and relationships, and aging. Other topics in this edition include emerging LGBT global health issues, new standards for comprehensive care of transgender people, behavioral health, gender identity development in children and teens, sexual health, and advances in HIV/AIDS prevention, particularly for sexual and gender minorities. The book is designed for individual usage, and also can be used as a tool for teaching a LGBT health curriculum; chapters can also be used separately in various educational contexts.
The Fenway Guide to LGBT Health will be distributed by all major distributors and medical book sellers and is available to purchase at www.acponline.org/fenway and www.amazon.com, or by calling ACP Customer Service at 800-523-1546, ext. 2600, or 215-351-2600.
