Health care providers in Ontario provide services to people from many diverse communities. Culturally competent health care involves having the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to work effectively with people of different cultures. This helps to improve health outcomes as service providers are able to better understand, communicate with, and interact with people across cultures.

The issue of cultural competency as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people may be a new concept for many, but it is essential that health care and social service providers are respectful of and responsive to the health needs and cultural issues of LGBT communities.

While LGBT people have many of the same health concerns as the general population, these health needs are affected by a number of issues that are specific to LGBT communities. LGBT people face several barriers to accessing health care and there are also some specific health issues that may be more likely to affect LGBT people.

LGBT cultural competency training is designed to assist service providers in their understanding of these issues and to improve their skills in providing health education, disease prevention, and treatment for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

Rainbow Health Ontario works in collaboration and partnership with other organizations, programs and individuals to provide a truly integrated LGBT framework of training and education. To learn more about our range of LGBT training and education services, please click here.