MATEC News

NASTAD Announces Training Website to Help Doctors Tackle Implicit Bias, Provide Better Care to Black Gay Men

Source: National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
Published October 12, 2016

NASTAD (National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors) is excited to announce the launch of a new online training platform, HisHealth.org, to help doctors, nurses, and medical professionals identify and unlearn racial biases that create barriers to good care and elevate the quality of healthcare for Black gay men and other Black men who have sex with men.

HisHealth.org is a dynamic training tool that:

  • Provides free accredited and expert-led continuing education courses that fulfill requirements medical professionals need to maintain their medical licensure.
  • Offers portraits of innovative models of care, including Project Silk, a CDC funded, Pittsburgh-based recreational safe space and sexual health center rooted in house ball culture and Connecting Resources for Urban Sexual Health, a sexual health clinic created by and for LGBTQ youth of color.
  • Gives easy access to evidence-based resources to support the delivery of high-quality, culturally affirming healthcare services for Black gay men.

“Finding a good doctor as a Black gay man with HIV is incredibly difficult,” said Terrance Moore, Deputy Executive Director at NASTAD. “Research shows that implicit bias stops many doctors from providing high-quality care to Black Americans. Add to that a lack of understanding about the sexual health care needs of LGBTQ patients, and many men I know would rather stay home. That’s why this new tool is so important – we can help healthcare providers fight implicit bias and provide better care.”

The barriers for Black gay men in search of medical care are high. Even though most medical providers want to give good care, only 1 in 3 doctors know about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) – a groundbreaking HIV-prevention medication. Many doctors aren’t versed in providing quality care for LGBTQ people, and research indicates implicit bias has led to subpar care for Black Americans. “His Health” provides accredited in-depth training for medical professionals, while sharing profiles of the nation’s best sexual health care programs for Black gay men.

“There is a lot of discussion right now about implicit bias and police brutality in the U.S. – but the truth is, this is a huge challenge for healthcare providers as well,” said Omoro Omoighe, Associate Director of Health Equity at NASTAD. “We know doctors and nurses desperately wish to offer culturally affirming healthcare that is stigma-free to Black LGBTQ patients. With the advent of His Health, they now have the tools necessary to tackle implicit bias and feel more confident in their ability to uplift the standard of care for Black gay men while maintaining their licensure to practice medicine.”

The His Health platform was developed for and by Black gay men and their healthcare providers, in partnership with NASTAD and the Health Resources Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA/HAB) in response to the high HIV rates among Black gay men.

For questions related to His Health.org, please contact Omoro Omoighe.