LGBT Issues

Over the past 30 years, health communication research has moved from not only studying general communication issues in a health context, but also identifying the specific health needs of different patient communities. As with trends in public health, medical, nursing, psychology, counseling, and other social science disciplines, communication researchers have realized that not all populations have the same disparities or advantages when it comes to health. Thus, in addition to examining health communication issues for racial and ethnic minorities, women, and international populations, researchers have begun exploring the social and relational health experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; these experiences have direct consequences on the access and quality of health care for LGBT populations.

Within health research about LGBT issues across the disciplines, ...