LGBTQ Initiative
Strategic Planning Meeting
February 3, 2016
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
On February 3, 2016, LGBTQ organizations and programs met for the first time to develop a LGBTQ Hepatitis Initiative. The following recommendations were provided, divided in the following categories: 1) Education and Awareness 2) Social Media 3) Community Outreach 4) Advocacy 5) Research/Surveillance
Education and Awareness
- Hepatitis educational materials should target diverse groups, such as transgender men, women of color, men who may be soliciting sex from trans* women.
- When creating educational materials, we must keep in mind that people of color may be suspicious of clinical environments. Language in these educational resources should not be condescending.
- Educational materials should provide detailed explanations of how hormones are injected, the types of needles used, etc.
- It is important to have specific goals, and a clear message we want to send out – such as promoting vaccination; increasing screening; promoting liver cancer screening for people with cirrhosis.
Using Social Media
- One option is to do hepatitis advertisements on craigslist, dating/hook up apps on.
- Advertising on apps or websites can be expensive, but we can look into ways to do these advertisements cheaply. Some apps may allow us to advertise for free, such as Scruff.
- When advertising on social media, it is important to have a simple call to action to increase “clicks.”
Community Outreach
- Reach out to immigrant populations, particularly younger people. They can educate their parents about Hepatitis.
- Focus on Trans* Men, just as we focus on Trans* Female.
- Collaborate to ensure that LGBTQ people are receiving our information. We need to figure out how to promote our message.
- Organize events that have a timeline/end date, so that people will show up, such as a LGBTQ hepatitis screening day.
- Visit health fairs to provide resources to attendees.
- Because the population we are trying to reach may not attend health fairs, we need to figure out other ways of reaching them.
- Participate in Pride events throughout the boroughs by handing out resources.
Advocacy
- Mobilize the LGBTQ community to advocate for insurance coverage of Hepatitis care.
- Call on providers to advocate for their patients and push for insurance companies to cover Hepatitis C medications.
Research/Surveillance
- Engage in research to discover who in the LGBTQ community is being infected with Hepatitis.
- Implement a needs assessment/focus group to see what hepatitis topics we should specifically focus on.
Meeting Presentations and Handouts:
LGBTQ Initiative Needs Assessment Survey Results
Hepatitis C: A much more silent disease among Latinos.
New York State Hepatitis C Coalition 2016 State Budget and Legislative Platform
In Attendance:
Joey Akima, Apicha Community Health Center, jakima@apicha.org
Adisa Yamusah, Harlem United, ayamusah@harlemunited.org
Andrew Bonfrancesco, Housing Works, A.Bonfrancesco@housingworks.org
Anthony Albanese, LGBT Community Center, mfisk@gaycenter.org
Benjamin Gonzalez, Interfaith Medical, BGonzalez@INTERFAITHMEDICAL.org
Bobby Tolbert, VOCAL – NY, bobby.vocal@gmail.com
Charles Lott, Housing Works, lott.nj5@gmail.com
Darrin Maxwell, Callen Lorde Community Health Center, dmaxwell@callen-lorde.org
John Hellman, BOOM Health, jhellman@boomhealth.org
Juli Owens, Long Island Transgender Advocacy Coalition, juliowens1@aol.com
Keyiana Puryear, Bridging Access to Care, Kpuryear@bac-ny.org
Kiara St. James, New York Trans Advocacy Group, kst.james7@gmail.com
Kim Watson, CK Life, kim@cklife.org
Luis Scaccabarrozzi, Latino Commission on AIDS, LScaccabarrozzi@latinoaids.org
Lyndsay Smith, Q Center: Queens LGBT Community Center, smith@lgbtnetwork.org
Mohamed Amin, The Caribbean Equality Project, info@caribbeanequality.org
Ronni Marks, The Hepatitis C Mentor and Support Group, Inc., ronnimarks24@gmail.com
Russell Perry, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Perrymd@aol.com
Sophia Vargas, CK Life, josky718@gmail.com
Trevor Hedberg, The Ryan Center, Trevor.Hedberg@ryancenter.org
