Pride Month 2020: VHA & partners launch tools to improve care for LGBTG2S communities

Pride Month is a celebration of love, identity, and community. But it’s also about acknowledging the history of LGTBQ2S rights around the world and looking ahead to ensure equity and acceptance for these communities. That’s why VHA Home HealthCare collaborated with many of our community partners to create educational resources to help decrease health barriers and disparities experienced by members of the LGBTQ2S communities. These tools aid in educating our care teams to ensure the best possible care to everyone we serve:

LGBTQ2S Inclusion Playbook

Cover for the inclusion playbook The playbook is intended to support people working in acute, primary and community health and social service environments in fostering inclusive spaces for LGBTQ2S communities and people. It provides medical professionals, care providers, administrative teams and policy-makers with tools, resources and guidelines to better understand and meet the needs of LGBTQ2S people in health care and social service care settings. The playbook celebrates the work of five health care providers: Flemingdon Health Care, Michael Garron Hospital, South Riverdale Community Health Centre, SPRINT Senior Care and VHA Home HealthCare. These five health care providers are part of a subcommittee of Solutions – East Toronto’s Health Collaborative, a broad network of dedicated organizations in East Toronto committed to LGBTQ2S inclusion. Through showcasing the work of these five organizations, this playbook will provide effective, evidence-based strategies to enhance LGBTQ2S patient/client experiences and health outcomes. The playbook focuses on these themes:
  • Accountability systems and measures (South Riverdale Community Health Centre)
  • Clear, evidence-based policies (VHA Home HealthCare)
  • Comprehensive multi-stakeholder training (Michael Garron Hospital)
  • Intersectionality and health equity (Flemingdon Health Centre)
  • Patient and community engagement (SPRINT Senior Care)
Check out the full LGBTQS2 Inclusion Playbook here

Out at Home

The Out at Home wordmark logoHome is meant to be a safe place, and home care workers play a key role in helping us age happily and healthily at home. We collaborated with many of our partners to create Out at Home, an evidence-based video that equips home care professionals to provide LGBTQ2IS older adults with the best possible care. Watch the full video here.