European funding for the Centre for Health Research

I’m really excited to let you know that research colleagues were successful in attracting European funding. Led by Dr Nigel Sherriff the team will be working on a pilot project related to reducing health inequalities experienced by LGBTI people (Co-investigators for the UK Dr Laetitia Zeeman, Alex Pollard, and Prof Kath Browne). With an overall budget of just under half a million Euro’s this brings €89K to the Centre for Health Research at the School of Health Sciences. Please see below for an overview of the project.

 Overview

There is substantial evidence demonstrating that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people experience health inequalities and that the social determinants of health, namely discrimination, social exclusion and stigmatisation are well‐recognized roots of such inequalities. There is also evidence to suggest that direct and indirect discrimination against LGBTI people along with a lack of specific knowledge and sensitivity also exists within the health sector contributing to, and reinforcing these inequalities.

Whilst the issue of social exclusion and more specifically discrimination against LGBTI persons is being tackled to a certain extent through specific EU legislation, various EU funding mechanisms and national initiatives, the specific topic of health inequalities experienced by LGBTI people requires further investigation upon which targeted interventions can be formulated along with concrete actions. To this end, and bearing in mind a long‐term overall goal of ensuring that LGBTI people across Europe have full and equal access to health care and services, the objectives of this project are:

• To gain a better understanding of the specific health inequalities experienced by LGBTI people, focusing in particular on overlapping inequalities stemming from discrimination and unfair treatment on other grounds (e.g. age, disability, socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity);
• To gain a better understanding of the barriers faced by health professionals when providing care to these groups;
• To raise awareness amongst health professionals about the needs of LGBTI people and provide health professionals with specific tools to ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge to overcome the identified barriers.

Professor Paula Kersten, PhD

Head of School of Health Sciences