OptumHealth Education, the company’s continued learning spinout, released a new training program to instruct healthcare professionals on how to treat the unique needs of people in the LGBTQ+ community.

The free and on-demand series was created alongside the LGBTQ+ nonprofit OutCare Health, which has its own supply of resources, including a directory of culturally competent providers, location-based public healthcare resources, mentorship opportunities, webinars, blogs, research and cultural competency training.

“We’re proud to launch this educational series with OptumHealth Education and Optum, and to address these disparities head-on,” OutCare Health founder and president Dr. Dustin Nowaskie said in a statement.

“Working with one of the leading healthcare services companies in the United States to design this training means we can reach more providers and make a meaningful impact on the barriers LGBTQ+ people experience within the healthcare system.”

The program’s first part, Caring for the LGBTQ+ Community: An Introduction, touches on the health implications of providers’ implicit biases, teaches appropriate pronoun use and respectful terminology, covers specific disparities among the LGBTQ+ community and identifies ways to create a safe and welcoming healthcare environment for all people.

OptumHealth Education plans to release additional modules later this fall, according to the announcement. These will cover more in-depth topics, such as how to care for transgender patients.

“LGBTQ+ people face a number of unique challenges and barriers when it comes to their health and well-being. Many of these barriers are rooted in discrimination, stigma and a simple lack of awareness and knowledge,” Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell, Optum’s senior national medical director in the office for provider advancement, said in a statement.

“We launched this educational series as part of our commitment to advancing health equity and improving the health care experience for everyone we serve.”

In addition to its new educational program, Optum launched PRIDE365+, a website that compiles resources for LGBTQ+ community members and allies. The website features a resource guide, an LGBTQ+ terminology and pronoun guide, a transgender support guide, a “How to be an ally” guide and more.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Despite ongoing work to achieve equality based on gender and sexuality, people in the LGBTQ+ community continue to face discrimination in their personal lives, in the workplace and the public sphere, and in healthcare.

In fact, more than one-third of LGBTQ+ Americans experienced discrimination of some kind in 2020, according to a survey by the Center for American Progress.

These prejudices have long-lasting impacts on people’s health, as LGBTQ+ people are at a higher risk for cancer, mental illnesses and other diseases, and are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs and engage in other risky behaviors, the Center for American Progress notes.

Improving education around LGBTQ+ health starting from the foundational level in med school through continued learning opportunities has been pitched as a way to improve the health of the community and reduce discrimination.

THE LARGER TREND

Focus on LGBTQ+ health is increasing, according to Rock Health. It found that, prior to 2020, there weren’t any digital health companies in the U.S. exclusively focused on serving LGBTQ+ individuals that were backed by investors. But by early this summer, LGBTQ+ digital health startups boosted their total funding to $39 million.

Players in the space include the recently combined Grand Rounds Health and Doctor On Demand, which scooped up Included Health, a health concierge platform for the LGBTQ+ community.

Earlier this year, Plume landed $14 million in Series A funding for its platform that helps members of the transgender community find health services.

There’s also Folx Health, a digital health provider that offers a range of healthcare product plans for the LGBTQ+ community, which raised $25 million in February.