Setting the scene – Equality Forward
Welcome,
You have found a user-friendly, accessible resource which, I am sure, will be welcomed widely by health and welfare staff and students in Scotland’s Colleges and Universities.
This resource follows on from a successful training programme for educators in the NHS and Universities aimed at health care workers, and it is to the credit of NHS Education Scotland that the value and importance of this work was recognised and allowed to develop.
One of the major strengths of this resource ‘Addressing LGBT Health Inequalities’ is that it was developed in partnership with a range of health and education organisations.
LGBT people still face prejudice and discrimination in our country. We see ‘Addressing LGBT Health Inequalities’ as a strong statement of the importance to us all of making sure we recognise the rights and needs of this key part of Scotland’s communities.
Equality Forward believes that Scotland’s Colleges and Universities can play a key role in promoting the rights and needs of LGBT people. As educators, their work can strengthen the confidence of staff, students and organisations to fight prejudice, and to enable change in ways that allow equality to become a reality.
This learning can be taken out into health and welfare settings, therefore having a continuing positive impact on the health experiences of LGBT people.
With the advent of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and soon, the Scottish Commission for Human Rights, we are moving away from seeing individuals as having a ‘single strand issue’ to organisations recognising their impact on an individual’s human rights.
This resource encourages health care educators and professionals to consider their work with LGBT people in a holistic way that takes into account this knowledge.
By informing and raising issues in a way that can be explored by staff and students, this resource will contribute to a more inclusive educational experience for Scotland’s health care students and, ultimately, create better health care services that ensure that LGBT people accessing these services experience respect, equality and quality service.
July 2007
Equality Forward website
Addressing LGBT health inequalities an educational resource 20071