* This presentation was originally recorded in French. Closed captioning is available in both English and French.
Access to health services adapted to the needs of LGBTQ2+ communities in rural Canada remains a challenge in 2021. Several studies have explored the issues faced by community members, but few have addressed the needs of health professionals. We therefore carried out a study with the objective of evaluating the environment and comfort level of frontline health-care professionals working in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region when it comes to inclusion and knowledge of the specifics of the LGBTQ+ community. The objectives were to obtain a portrait of the current situation, highlight the priority issues, and propose solutions adapted to the challenges of professionals. To do this, we assessed the comfort, training, barriers, knowledge, measures in place and needs of family physicians, family medicine residents, and nurses in this rural area. Our results demonstrate the need for health care professionals to have access to tools and training that will improve the inclusiveness of their practice. We therefore produced and distributed a leaflet containing educational capsules and resources to physicians in the region to help them improve the quality of care provided to the LGBTQ2+ community in the region.
Participants:
Pier-Maude Lanteigne
