LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency Training for Mental Health Care Workers

The purpose of the staff education project was to address a noticeable gap in training regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) cultural competencies for the multidisciplinary mental health care workers of an inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry unit. LGBTQ+ individuals commonly encounter discriminatory barriers to care, resulting in mental health disparities and medical distrust; thus, mental health care workers must engage in professional allyship and improve their capability to sufficiently care for this population. The practice question that guided this project was the following: Will a staff education program designed to educate multidisciplinary mental health care workers on LGBTQ+ cultural competencies improve staff knowledge, attitudes, and clinical preparedness, as evidenced by an increase in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Development of Clinical Skills Scale (LGBT-DOCSS) scores? With the LGBT-DOCSS instructions and IBM SPSS statistical software, a paired t test was used to analyze the mean differences between 23 participants’ presurvey and postsurvey results. There were statistically significant mean differences between the presurvey and postsurvey LGBT-DOCSS scores, as well as statistically significant mean differences for the subscales of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Clinical Preparedness (p < .05). These results imply that the LGBTQ+ cultural competency training effectively facilitated a more knowledgeable, inclusive, and clinically prepared workforce for LGBTQ+ patients. It is recommended that a similar LGBTQ+ cultural competency training be implemented across all health care settings at regular intervals, educating all staff members of each setting to ensure equitable, high-quality, and positive health care experiences for the LGBTQ+ community.