Our research and enterprise impact

The Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender brings together researchers from across the university who are working on themes related to sexuality, gender and social change with a core focus on producing research with community partners that impacts on policy and practice. Some examples of the impact of our research are provided below.

Count Me In Too and LGBT Suicidal Distress Project

The psychological health and wellbeing of lesbians, gay men and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people has been identified as a key national issue with particular focus on suicide, physical abuse and alcohol and drug misuse. Two studies were developed in Brighton and Hove: Count Me In Too (2005-2010) led by Kath Browne, and the LGBT Suicidal Distress project (2005- 2008) led by Katherine Johnson.

The research changed local and national policy and reshaped services to reflect the diverse needs and experiences of LGBT communities, resulting in the first local LGBT housing strategy and the first suicide strategy in Brighton to centralise LGBT people. Recommendations from the research have been adopted in the UK by the Department of Health, the UK Drug Policy Commission, the Cabinet Office and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. The research has influenced policy developments in Australia through the National LGBTI Health Alliance and has been incorporated into a guide to LGBTI inclusive practice for health and human services in the state of Victoria.

Health4LGBTI

Health4LGBTI is an EU-funded pilot project aimed at reducing health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and intersex (LGBTI) people. There is substantial evidence demonstrating that LGBTI people experience significant health inequalities that have impact on their health outcomes. LGBTI people continue to experience stigma and discrimination combined with social isolation and limited understanding of their lives by others, leading to significant barriers in terms of accessing health and social care services. These experiences can translate into a risk of alcohol abuse, depression, suicide and self-harm, violence, substance misuse and HIV infection. Depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance misuse are more common in LGBTI people, with lesbian and bisexual women at particular risk of alcohol abuse.

The project found that health professionals assume that LGBTI people do not face discrimination in accessing healthcare services and some believe that LGBTI people were contributing to their own marginalisation. As well as the lack of knowledge and cultural competence on the part of health professionals, the research found evidence of heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and interphobia creating significant barriers to healthcare, aggravated by systems ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of gender identity along with laws and policies restricting access to healthcare for trans people in particular, with some even being refused appropriate medical services.
  
An integral focus of this team’s research is to look at how health inequalities of this kind can be reduced, for example by ensuring that health services are attuned through appropriate and mandatory training for staff and students across health systems.

ACCESSCare

This project (2014-2016), led by Dr Richard Harding, and funded by Marie Curie, aimed to improve demand for and supply of palliative care for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or trans (LGBT) and are in the later stages of a life-limiting illness.

Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT, and their significant others, may not receive the care they need when facing a life-limiting illness, despite an increased risk of certain cancers. Findings from the ACCESSCare study informed the recent Marie Curie publication ''Hiding Who I Am'': the reality of end-of-life care for LGBT people', and the Care Quality Commission Thematic Review (CQC) ‘A different ending – addressing inequalities in end-of-life care’. The main paper from ACCESSCare is freely available online from the Palliative Medicine website and highlights the additional barriers and stressors that LGBT people may experience when facing advanced illness and in bereavement.

A booklet aims to help individuals to think about:

• Why sexual orientation or gender identity may be important in relation to care needs, and preferences

• The care individuals are entitled to receive

• What to do if you think you have been discriminated against, because of your sexuality or gender identity

• Where to go for more help and information