Presenter: Juliana Sherchan, Biological Sciences, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum project, I worked at the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Lab in the School of Public Health at UMD. Here, I worked on a project looking at health disparities among people a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I looked at different surveys such as the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), and National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to see how people that identified as LGBTQ+ responded to questions about access to health care, mental health resources, physical health, as well as substance and alcohol use. With this information, I logged it into a codebook for connections to be made about how access to health services as well as lifestyle choices differ in the LGBTQ+ community and across geographical location.
Hi Juliana!
I thought your presentation was very enlightening regarding the unique health disparities faced by those who identify as LGBTQ+. I never realized that those who identify as LGBTQ have higher rates of substance use. This made me wonder which social determinant of health you found to be the greatest influence on these health outcomes?
Hi Reva, thank you! To encourage or incentivize the LGBTQ+ community to take part in these surveys could be to make it clear that taking these surveys are working towards helping them get access to necessary health resources. I think with more information on the purpose of these surveys as well as how these surveys can help create change, it can encourage people of the LGBTQ+ community to take part in them.
Excellent presentation, Juliana! Your presentation is very professional and informative. What are some ways (one or two) you can suggest to encourage or incentivize people in the LGBTQ + community to take part in these surveys to get more representative samples?