Professional Expectations of Provider LGBTQ Competence: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

Introduction: Mental and behavioral health professional organizations use their governing documents to set expectations of provider competence in working with LGBTQ+ clients. Method: The codes of ethics and training program accreditation guidelines of nine mental and behavioral health disciplines (n=16) were analyzed using template analysis. Results: Coding resulted in fives themes: mission and values, direct practice, clinician education, culturally competent professional development, and advocacy. Expectations for provider competency vary greatly across disciplines. Conclusion: Having a mental and behavioral health workforce that is uniformly competent in meeting the unique needs of LGBTQ populations is key for supporting the mental and behavioral health of LGBTQ persons.This work was supported by the University of Maryland Prevention Research Center cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant U48DP006382). N.D.W. also acknowledges support from the Southern Regional Education Board and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program. J.N.F. also acknowledges support from the Maryland Population Research Center, by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant P2CHD041041). This work does not expressly represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Collaborative Development of Clinical Trials Education Programs for African-American Community-Based Organizations

This paper describes the use of a unique ”Learning and Feedback” approach to tailor cancer clinical trials education programs for Community Bridges, a peer training intervention designed for African American communities in North Carolina. Generic community education modules were demonstrated with key community leaders who were designated as trainers. Quantitative and qualitative assessments were provided on understanding of content, comfort with material and cultural relevance. The generic materials were adapted into three revised modules, all featuring key messages about cancer clinical trials, discussion regarding distrust of medical research, common misconceptions about trials, patient protections, and a call to action to prompt increased inquiry about locally available trials. The revised modules were then used as part of a train-the-trainer program with 12 African American community leaders. ENACCT’s use of the Learning and Feedback process is an innovative method for culturally adapting clinical trials education

High-throughput profiling of the serum N-glycome on capillary electrophoresis microfluidics systems: toward clinical implementation of glycoHepatoTest

We developed a 3 h procedure for preparing serum N-glycans and labeling them with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (APTS) by sequential addition of reagents to the serum and incubation in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) thermocycler. Moreover, we succeeded in analyzing these samples by capillary electrophoresis on three commercial microfluidics-based platforms: the MCE-202 MultiNA, the 2100 Bioanalyzer, and a modified prototype of the eGene system which were originally designed for nucleic acid separation and detection. Although these instruments use short separation channels, our technical improvements made it possible to reliably measure the N-glycans constituting GlycoHepatoTest. This test comprises a panel of biomarkers that allows follow-up of liver fibrosis patients starting from the early stage. In this way and for the first time, we demonstrate a clinical glycomics assay on an affordable, robust platform so that clinical chemistry laboratories can exploit glycomics in the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic liver disease. Another potential application is the rapid screening of the N-glycosylation of recombinant glycoproteins produced for pharmaceutical use

UMD-PRC Progress Report: Competencies for Mental Health Clinicians working with LGBTQ+ People in Mental Health Care

The University of Maryland Prevention Research Center (UMD-PRC) is one of 26 federally funded Prevention Research Centers in the United States. Each Prevention Research Center is charged with the task of studying “how people and their communities can avoid or counter the risks for chronic illnesses.” The UMD-PRC’s mission is as follows: “In collaboration with LGBTQ+ partner organizations, we promote evidence-based training of students and mental health care providers in culturally sensitive and inclusive practices.” The UMD-PRC selected the CDC definition of cultural competence to guide the development of the competencies. The CDC defines cultural competence as “effectively operating in different cultural contexts and altering practices to reach different cultural groups.” The Sexual and Gender Diversity Learning Community (SGDLC) competencies are intended to serve as a complement to the existing official professional competencies for clinical practice produced by various mental health professions, namely the American Counseling Association (ACA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Association of Social Work (NASW). They are also intended to provide guidance to the professions where limited to no guidance is in place at the time of this writing. The SGDLC competencies for clinical practice are intentionally rudimentary in scope. As such, they provide an onramp for clinicians seeking to eventually master the comprehensive practice guidelines within their profession. They can also be used to provide guidance for the creation of educational modules for training programs in which limited faculty expertise is available. The SGDLC competencies outline the basic skills clinicians must acquire as they pursue mastery of the comprehensive guidelines endorsed by specific professional organizations (i.e., APA, ACA, NASW). To that end, the UMD-PRC sought to identify the most essential clinical competencies needed to serve the client population.Infrastructure and research support was provided by University of Maryland Prevention Research Center cooperative agreement #U48DP006382 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Any interpretations and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and may not reflect those of the CDC

Collaborative Development of Clinical Trials Education Programs for African-American Community-Based Organizations

This paper describes the use of a unique ”Learning and Feedback” approach to tailor cancer clinical trials education programs for Community Bridges, a peer training intervention designed for African American communities in North Carolina. Generic community education modules were demonstrated with key community leaders who were designated as trainers. Quantitative and qualitative assessments were provided on understanding of content, comfort with material and cultural relevance. The generic materials were adapted into three revised modules, all featuring key messages about cancer clinical trials, discussion regarding distrust of medical research, common misconceptions about trials, patient protections, and a call to action to prompt increased inquiry about locally available trials. The revised modules were then used as part of a train-the-trainer program with 12 African American community leaders. ENACCT’s use of the Learning and Feedback process is an innovative method for culturally adapting clinical trials education