Iris Cantor - UCLA Women's Health Center

LA County Sexual & Gender Diverse Queer Women's Health Collaborative: LBQT+

Los Angeles County Sexual and Gender Diverse Women's Health Collaborative: LBQT+

The Center is the lead agency of the Los Angeles County Sexual & Gender Diverse Women's Health Collaborative (SGDWHC). The Collaborative trains health care providers and social service professionals to deliver inclusive and culturally sensitive care to LBQT+ women. The purpose of the allyship trainings are to create long-term systemic changes to the health care and social service systems. Through professional development trainings, participants learn about the unique health issues facing LBQT+ women that are impacted by implicit biases, and how to provide care in a nurturing and welcoming environment that builds trust and disclosure.

The SGDWHC composes of members who represent healthcare facilities, government agencies, community organizations, and academic institutions and have experience advocating for the health and well-being of lesbian, bisexual and queer women. The SGDWHC has completed focus groups with under-represented lesbian and bisexual women to solicit their health care opinions and experiences. The data collected from this study will serve as the foundation for improving training and curriculums related to cultural competency targeting health care professionals.

The objectives of the SGDWHC are to:

  • Increase the number of health care institutions participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) Survey. 
  • Train allies in delivering culturally competent health care to lesbian and bisexual women using pilot data from the LBWHC's focus group study.
  • Supplement existing LGBTQ+ training programs and materials with information unique to lesbian and bisexual Latinas, African Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders, veterans, and women ages 65 and over.
  • Host conferences for executives and other health professionals about health care for lesbian and bisexual women. 

SGDWHC Collaborative Members

For more information about the SGDWHC or to schedule a free training, please contact: [email protected] or visit the website at SGDWHC.