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In today’s generation, substance abuse has become an epidemic issue as many individuals are affected globally, especially among the “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ)” community. The LGBTQ community is a vulnerable population that experiences significant health and social disparities compared to the general population (Hafeez et al., 2017). Individuals in this population have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS, substance and alcohol abuse, mental health disorders, suicide incidences and suicide attempts, poverty, homelessness, and emotional, sexual, and physical abuse.  The immense challenges transgender individuals experience contributed to high rates of substance abuse. According to Juergens (2019), about 20 to 30 percent of the LGBTQ population abuse substances and alcohol compared to only 9 percent of the general population.

Facilitating Improvements

Study findings have reported substantially higher overall rates of substance use and substance abuse among the LGBTQ than the heterosexual population (Juergens, 2019). Therefore, to facilitate improvement, there is the need to create an inclusive environment that considers the substance and abuse health issues and healthcare needs of the LGBTQ community. This way, the healthcare providers treating and interacting with individuals from the LGBTQ community must design forms and health questions that are more sexually and gender-inclusive.  The enhancement may entails developing healthcare brochures featuring same-sex couples or utilizing LGBTQ accepted symbols like a rainbow in patient education literature to develop a hospitable environment.  Similar, several system-wide policies can be transformed to take care of the interests of the LGBTQ population. the modifications may incoporate offering gender-inclusive health insurance policy, designing and integrating non-gender specific private washrooms in all hospitals, and encouraging diversity through recruiting individuals from the LGBTQ population through non-discriminatory recruitment procedures.  

Improving the quality and outcomes

There are endless stereotypes and prejudices held against the LGBTQ population prompting efforts to be made by healthcare professionals to develop a more friendly and inclusive environment for individuals in this population. These efforts should aim at improving the quality and outcomes of care offered to this vulnerable population and improve their likelihood of seeking treatment when whenever they need healthcare services. Research indicates that heterosexual providers who specialize in substance abuse treatment but have few LGBTQ friends often display negative biases against individuals from the LGBTQ population than providers belonging to the LGBTQ community (Holthouser et al., 2015).  Consequently, to establish a hospitable and inclusive healthcare setting for the LGBTQ substance abuse individuals, the efforts need to pay attention to sensitivity and unconscious bias training for all healthcare practitioners caring for the LGBTQ individuals seeking substance abuse treatments. 

The training needs to incorporate training for developing skills and expertise that enhance empathy and compassion towards individuals in the LGBTQ community (Noon, 2018). The training on unconscious bias must provide healthcare practitioners with skills that can motivate them to engage in a comprehensive but non-judgmental and objective social health history avoid making personal presumptions. The providers should also able to identify the unique healthcare needs specific to the LGBTQ substance abuse patients (Klein & Nakhai, 2016). Lastly, to create improvement, it is vital to reach out to the LGBTQ community by celebrating their culture, making them feel safe and accepted in the healthcare atmosphere, such as  recognizing and celebrating the National Pride Day.

Positions that Support Team’s Approach

The best team approach to treating LGBTQ patients with substance use and substance abuse is the interprofessional team approach. The interprofessional team will play a substantial role to implement the quality improvement recommendations that are critical in creation of an inclusive healthcare setting that fits the LGBTQ population.  Besides, the team will have to incorporate inputs from other disciplines such as healthcare educators ho specialize in LGBTQ substance abuse treatment and those that can provide essential information regarding the particular healthcare issues and needs tailored for the LGBTQ persons with substance abuse disorders (Holthouser et al., 2015).  The team may also need to incorporate