Training for Change: An Integrated Anti-Oppression Workshop
Presenters:
Deidre D-Lishus Walton, Project Coordinator, Rainbow Health Network; Rainbow Health Ontario Community
Outreach Team, Hamilton
Phyllis Waugh, Chair, Rainbow Health Network; Rainbow Health Ontario Community Outreach Team, Toronto
Who is included in “LGBTQ” and who defines these terms? How can workshops acknowledge and explore
issues of how power operates, without remaining limited to “definitions of terms”? How can training explore
sensitive areas while remaining engaging and accessible? Research shows that LGBTQ people have many unmet health needs, and education of service providers is key to improving their access to care. However, presenting training on LGBTQ access to health care from a truly integrated, intersectional perspective is challenging. Identities are made up of complex intersections among social locations of oppression and power. For example, if a workshop does not include among “LGBTQ issues” the need for ramps to enter a building, the implication could be that there are no LGBTQ people living with disabilities.
In September 2009 Rainbow Health Network (RHN) released “Training for Change: An Integrated Anti-
Oppression Framework,” by Margaret Alexander and Fran Odette. This educational tool for trainers discusses these issues and presents questions and suggestions for trainers. It forms the basis for the Training for Change Workshop and the Facilitator’s Guide. One of the promising practices of RHN’s “Training for Change” project is that it is grounded in discussions with LGBTQ community members from a variety of diverse communities. This workshop and discussion session is designed to highlight some promising practices in providing education about sexual and gender diversity to health care and social service workers and advocates. The presentation combines interactive workshop activities with a discussion of RHN’s “Training for Change” project. Participants will take part in selected activities from RHN’s new educational workshop and will be introduced to the new Facilitator’s Guide, which accompanies the
workshop. There will also be a discussion about the goals and methods of the project.
