Lesbian Health: Current Assessment and Directions for the Future

Prevalence of cigarette smoking among lesbians and patterns of tobacco use
Prevalence of heavy drug use and injection drug use among lesbians
Prevalence of infections related to injection drug use, such as hepatitis B and C
Associations between childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse, including alcohol abuse

Service Delivery and Access to Services

Lesbians' patterns of use of health care services
Models of care that act to remove barriers of access to care for lesbians
Impact of managed care on quality of care for lesbians
Whether cultural competency training of providers on the needs of lesbians will increase sensitive delivery of health care for lesbians
Need for prevention and treatment intervention models targeted specifically toward lesbians
Barriers to care for lesbians, including adolescent lesbians

References

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Adler NE, Boyce T, Chesney MA, Cohen S, Folkman S, Kahn RL, Syme SL. 1994. Socioeconomic status and health: The challenge of the gradient. American Psychologist 49(1):15-24.

American Cancer Society. 1997. Cancer Facts and Figures—1997 [WWW Document]. URL www.cancer.org/statistics/97cff/(accessed December 1 and 3, 1997).

Anderson RN, Kochanek KD, Murphy SL. 1997. Report of Final Mortality Statistics, 1995. Monthly Vital Statistics Report 45(11, suppl. 2). DHHS Pub No. (PHS) 97-1120. Rockville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

APA (American Psychological Association). 1997.

Bell AP, Weinberg MS. 1978. Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Berger BJ, Kolton S, Zenilman JM, Cummings MC, Feldman J, McCormack WM. 1995. Bacterial vaginosis in lesbians: A sexually transmitted disease. Clinical Infectious Diseases 21(6):1402-1405.

Table of Contents

Front Matter R1-R18

Executive Summary 1-16

1 Introduction 17-34

2 Lesbian Health Status and Health Risks 35-96

3 Methodological Challenges in Conducting Research on Lesbian Health 97-134

4 Contextual Barriers to Conducting Research on Lesbian Health 135-154

5 Conclusions and Recommendations 155-164

Appendix A: Selected Bibliography on Lesbian Health Research 165-206

Appendix B: Workshop Agenda 207-214

Appendix C: Workshop Participants 215-222

Appendix D: People and Organizations Submitting Testimony 223-226

Index 227-234

References