National Pride Month takes place each June to recognize the rights, culture, and contributions of individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and more or other identities). Health equity is an important aspect of equal rights. Following are some of the ways in which faculty and students at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies (SONHS) are working to improve evidence-based health outcomes and equity in the LGBTQ+ community.
Karina Gattamorta, research associate professor, is a site principal investigator (PI) for "Leveraging a Community-Driven Approach to Address the Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Structural Inequities Among Miami-Dade County's Intergenerational LGBTQ+ Community." This long-term comprehensive community assessment, funded in 2023 by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund, is led by Urban Health Partnerships, Inc.
Dr. Gattamorta, who is guiding quantitative data collection for the study with help from a SONHS Ph.D. student, said a comprehensive survey is ready to launch. The survey includes questions about health care access and quality, community connection, experiences of discrimination in health care settings, barriers to care, how health care information is obtained, how patients communicate with providers, if they feel connected and supported by Miami-Dade County, experiences with inclusive and safe spaces, and more. A separate survey for health care providers, community organizations, and municipalities will ask about their policies and practices, services, and how they engage with and support the LGBTQ community.
Dr. Gattamorta and her colleagues worked with the LGBTQ community, disability advocates, and other communities to ensure use of appropriate, sensitive, and inclusive survey language. "The design is really to address structural problems that trickle down into impacting the health of the community," said Dr. Gattamorta. "By working closely with the community, we'll develop indispensable knowledge that can inform current and future research, policies, programming and funding priorities, and lead to positive health outcomes for our LGBTQIA+ community across the lifespan." Another site PI at the University of Florida is leading quantitative data collection. Learn more.
OTHER INITIATIVES UNDERWAY
- Dr. Gattamorta and her research team have completed data collection on a study of mental health, stigma, safety, and curricular changes in Florida public schools as perceived by public high school students, as well as LGBTQ-identified public school teachers and parents of children in any grade. They will present findings at the National LGBTQ Health Conference in Atlanta this August. University of Miami U-LINK (Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge) research program and a national foundation that promotes sexual orientation and gender identity equality supported the study in the wake of Florida's 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), commonly called the "Don't Say Gay" law for its prohibition of classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and requirement of "age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate" instruction on these topics. "The impact of regressive LGBTQ-related legislation is poorly understood," said Dr. Gattamorta, "but Minority Stress Theory posits that less-accepting attitudes toward LGBTQ people, especially youth, are strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes via increased internalized, anticipated, and enacted stigma."
- Dr. Audrey Harkness, assistant professor and PI of the REACH (Research Engagement and Community Health) Equity Team, has NIH funding (K23, Ending the HIV Epidemic Supplement) to develop and evaluate culturally grounded implementation strategies that seek to scale up and disseminate evidence-based HIV-prevention and behavioral health interventions to Latino gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. She co-authored forthcoming companion books on LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Learn more.
- Dr. Alyssa Lozano, research assistant professor, was lead author on "Refining Multilevel Barrier and Facilitator Measures for HIV Testing and PrEP Among Latino Sexual Minority Men," published this January in the American Journal of Health Promotion.
- Dr. Willy Prado, interim executive vice president for academic affairs, provost, and professor, and his research team are recruiting participants for the Families With Pride (Familias con Orgullo) study to evaluate effects of a parenting intervention for Hispanic sexual minority youth in preventing or reducing drug use and depressive symptoms. The study is supported by the NIH's National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Learn more.
- Dr. Renessa Williams, assistant professor, is PI for "Cannabis Use and Proximal Immune Dysregulation (CUPID)," an NIMHD-supported study to determine the relationship between cannabis use and biomarkers of inflammation in Black sexual minority men with HIV. Learn more.
- Dr. Renae L. Patterson, a graduating member of the Ph.D. program in nursing science, successfully defended her dissertation on June 24: "78 Would Be Great: An Exploration of the Use of Patient Portals as a Supporting Intervention to Improve HIV Care Engagement among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) Living with HIV."
- Dalton Scott, a Ph.D. candidate in nursing science, presented "Intimate partner violence is associated with subsequent substance use among a nationwide sample of LGBTQIA+ people: Results from The PRIDE Study," this June at the 2024 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research. His dissertation focuses on intergenerational and cultural drivers of depressive symptoms in Hispanic sexual minority youth. Learn more.
