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232 Establishing Quality and Universal Access for LGBTQIA2+ Patients (EQUAL)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 April 2024
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: LGBTQIA2+ patients experience many healthcare inequities and often do not seek healthcare due to stigma andprevioustraumatic experiences in the healthcare system. A paucity of healthcare centersprovidesreduced-fee or free healthcare to LGBTQIA2+ individuals. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This project was initiated by the primary author who volunteered at an established student-run free clinic in Columbus, OH. The primary author engaged other students and faculty members, including the co-authors. A needs assessment was conducted by the authors, highlighting the unique needs of LGBTQIA2+ patients in central Ohio. In April 2022, members of the community and volunteer faculty providers established the Rainbow Clinic. The Rainbow Clinic provides primary care services including sexual health/STI testing and gynecology care. The Rainbow Clinic exclusively serves members of the LGBTQIA2+ community in central Ohio and creates a safe and inclusive space to educate medical and nurse practitioner students on the care of LGBTQIA2+ patients in a culturally sensitive way. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The Rainbow Clinic has provided care for 60 patients equating to 78 visits. Most patients sought care for general primary care (17.9%), gynecological care (11.5%) or STI testing and treatment (7.7%). In addition to medical services, social work services are also provided as part of available mental health services and to provide additional linkage to care. To our knowledge, The Rainbow Clinic is the first student-run free clinic in Ohio to offer pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis (PrEP) medication as well as the required laboratory monitoring. The Rainbow Clinic has ongoing research evaluating patient comfortability throughout their encounters and has launched research studies to evaluate how best to address social determinants of health that affect the health and healthcare of the LGBTQIA2+ community. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The Rainbow Clinic deliversfree healthcareand social work servicesto patients who experience healthcare inequities anddisparities.Additionally, the Rainbow Clinic is a source of education for medical and nurse practitionerstudents to ensure their cultural humility in treating future LGBTQ+ patients.
- Type
- Health Equity and Community Engagement
- Information
- Creative Commons
- This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
- Copyright
- © The Author(s), 2024. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science