Creating culturally competent LGBT+ inclusive care by transforming social work education and training

Introduction
Discrimination and lack of awareness of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender + (LGBT+) people in health and social care, continue to exist across the globe. This indicates the need to ensure that health and social care professional education must include exploration of LGBT+ issues, in order to enable professionals to provide culturally competent and compassionate care which is free from prejudice to this population.

Methodology IENE 9, an Erasmus+ funded project, adopted a mixed-method and innovative approach for gathering and developing teaching tools and resources for a more culturally competent and compassionate LGBT+ education in health and social care which was delivered by a MOOC.

Results
There seems to be a lack of covering in LGBT+ health needs in the health and social care curriculum across Europe. The IENE 9 project attempted to address this gap by delivering a MOOC to 875 people across the globe.

Discussion
Specific training on LGBT+ issues results in better knowledge and skills of the health and social care workforce, which helps to reduce inequalities and communication between providers and LGBT+ people, as well as diminishing the feelings of stigma and discrimination experienced by LGBT+ people.

New times require new ways of thinking. Culturally competent LGBT+ education for social work students should no longer be an option but an integral part of the curriculum. A MOOC is an innovative way to address the current gap between education and practice.