King's College London

The assumption that patients are cisgender and heterosexual, and not recognising loved ones, can be devastating for LGBT+ patients and their partners. Health and social care professionals want to provide care that includes LGBT+ patients, but they often lack training and support from their organisations, and as a result worry about making mistakes.

We have created ACCESSCare guidance, based on primary research, to help provide inclusive care for LGBT+ people who are facing serious or advanced illness, or bereavement, along with their significant others. We have made recommendations for those in charge of healthcare systems, and developed evidence-based practical guidance for individual healthcare workers on how to communicate in a way that is inclusive and person-centred.

The challenge addressed in this project is to encourage this research into practice and help overcome the difficulties faced by LGBT+ patients and healthcare providers. By working with key stakeholders, including healthcare staff, LGBT+ community members, advocacy organisations, and charity representatives, we will co-design and launch resources to drive improvements for LGBT+ people and their loved ones.

Aim

To achieve research impact through co-designed resources, activities and implementation strategies in order to improve person-centred inclusive care for LGBT+ people facing serious illness, advanced illness, end of life and bereavement.

Resources

We have designed a set of new resources with a group of stakeholders including LGBT+ advisory members, people from key LGBT+ advocacy organisations, senior NHS staff with involvement in staff training, and representatives of local and national charities focussed on care for people with life-threatening conditions. One of the new resources is the ACCESSCare website. Three of the resources below already existed before this project, and they are marked with this symbol - *

 

What is ACCESSCare? Click here to learn about the ACCESSCare projects through our short animation.

 

Resources for health and social care professionals, organisations & educators

-Posters

• A2 Poster- 10 recommendations to improve care for LGBT people with advanced illness, developed from the ACCESSCare-A study.
• A2 Poster- 5 recommendations for inclusive care of LGBT+ people facing bereavement, derived from the ACCESSCare-B study.
• A2 Poster- 10 recommendations for LGBT+ inclusiveness in health and social care communication, drawing on the findings of the ACCESSCare-C study.
• Set of 10 illustrated posters to support LGBT+ inclusive communication*, drawing on the findings of the ACCESSCare-C study.

-Slide decks

• Slide deck- 10 ACCESSCare-A recommendations, designed to support improved care delivery for LGBT people living with advanced illness.
• Slide deck- 5 ACCESSCare-B recommendations, designed to support inclusive care of LGBT+ people facing bereavement.
• Slide deck- 10 ACCESSCare-C recommendations, designed to support delivery of LGBT+ inclusive care in routine practice.

-Guides

• For health and social care professionals: 'ABC of LGBT+ Inclusive Communication'*, developed from the ACCESSCare-C interviews.

Resources for patients

-Guides

• Palliative & End-of-Life Care for LGBT People: A guide for LGBT people facing advanced illness*
  Guide about Palliative & End-of-Life Care for LGBT people, developed from the ACCESSCare-A interviews, for use by LGBT people facing advanced illness.