Taking Action: How Medical Writers Can Support the LGBTQIA+ Community

This is part two of our Pride month blog series, in which we address the current social, legal, and medical landscape affecting the LGBTQIA+ community.

In our last post, we briefly covered the history of discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. One way in which systemic violence can impact LGBTQIA+ individuals is by limiting their ability to access timely and dignified health care services, ultimately leading to poorer outcomes. In this post, we will discuss ways in which medical writers and science communications professionals can help address health disparities by using language to advance equity in health care. 

Because medical writers create a wide range of content for diverse audiences, not all of the following suggestions will be relevant to all readers. However, even if you cannot currently implement all of these actions, understanding their value and purpose can help you to educate others or advocate for equity work within your organization. 

Learn about inclusive language and start implementing it in writing and editing projects. The purpose of inclusive language is to ensure that our communications acknowledge the diverse identities and experiences of readers. Inclusivity means that when someone reads content you have produced, they see themselves in it.  

There is no shortage of resources to help medical writers who want to ensure their products use inclusive language; for example, Communicate Health has an excellent starter toolkit for writers of all genres with key definitions and word usage suggestions, as well as links to additional resources. The National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center has a wealth of resources for medical writers and researchers, including toolkits, videos, and webinars, as well as educational materials on various LGBTQIA+ health topics.The AMA and APA style guides also provide guidance for inclusive language in their most recent editions (note that while the AMA does require a subscription, the APA guidelines are freely available). 

If you want to dig deeper into LGBTQIA+ health advocacy, the GLMA offers free webinars on relevant health and communication topics. These are designed for health care providers, but will be useful to medical writers and other professionals who write about LGBTQIA+ health issues. 

Advocate for appropriate data collection practices. In a previous post, we discussed the Urban Institute’s “Do No Harm Guide,” which “explores the current state of data around gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.” While medical writers may not have substantial influence on the way data is collected, they can ensure that terms like sex and gender are properly defined during manuscript preparation. 

If you work directly with health care providers, you may also be able to advocate for safe and ethical SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) data collection procedures. Given the recent erasure of these data from national repositories, it is vital that providers and non-governmental organizations continue to collect this data so that it can be used to characterize and design interventions for LGBTQIA+ health disparities. 

Incorporate LGBTQIA+ topics into CE/CME content. A recent report from the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health revealed that while many providers desire continuing education on how to work effectively with LGBTQIA+ patients, many are still not receiving that training. A study published in JAMA found that only 34% of primary care practices in the U.S. provide LGBTQ+-specific training for clinicians. 

Medical writers who specialize in producing CE/CME materials are well-placed to address this gap. The report found that the providers most frequently requested training on stigma and discrimination, how to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and addressing LGBTQIA+ health disparities. Even if you are not designing LGBTQIA+-specific CE/CME modules, consider including information about health concerns that are specific to LGBTQIA+ populations when creating materials on disease states.

Amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ researchers. You can use your social media presence to draw attention to initiatives like 500 Queer Scientists and Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), which aim to bring visibility to the contributions of LGBTQIA+ researchers to science and medicine. 

You can also share studies, resources, and news articles about issues affecting the health and wellbeing of the LGBTQIA+ community. Consider joining an LGBTQIA+ alliance or advocating for your local chapter of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) to host workshops or webinars on inclusive language practices. Or, create your own advocacy group to address health care needs of LGBTQIA+ people who live in your community.

These are dark times for the LGBTQIA+ community, but we have faced greater challenges in the past and emerged stronger. As Pride month comes to a close, let’s commit ourselves to a fight for a better future.