IDIAPJGol coordinates a project to identify inequalities in lesbians health

L-HEALTH is an European consortium which seeks to promote excellent clinical practice for all the people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity

First meeting of the L-healh consortium in the IDIAPJGol facilities

The Institut d’Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol) leads the L-HEALTH project, a European-wide initiative whose main objective is to identify the health inequalities suffered by lesbians in the primary care services. The project is promoted by a consortium made up of five entities, including research centres, non-profit organisations, and lesbian associations. This week, they have met at the headquarters of the IDIAPJGol to start the project.

L-HEALTH will build the first lesbian cohort in Europe, which will be done in collaboration of lesbian organizations at international and local level, and by using the respondent-driven sampling, in which participants recruit new participants amongst their contacts. Then, we will use a large clinical database to study lesbian’s health, by comparing the health status of participants from the lesbian cohort with a sample of the general population.

The project aims at tackling gender and sexuality stereotypes and improving clinical practice towards lesbians, through generating novel knowledge on the specific needs and health status of lesbians, raising awareness and providing training and educating healthcare professionals. This novel knowledge will be achieved through a qualitative methodology focused to identify the perceptions among lesbians and health professionals.
In the case of lesbians, the study aims to find barriers in accessing the health system, perceptions of discrimination by professionals, and proposals for change regarding the professionals and the health system identified by lesbians.

Also, the study intends to identify the perceptions of health professionals based on their clinical experiences attending lesbians, their knowledge and training needs, prejudices and stereotypes, personal competencies and community resources, and proposals for improving the quality care.

Training program

The findings of the study will serve to design a training program for health professionals that improves their awareness and knowledge of lesbian health and promotes excellent clinical practice for all, regardless of their sexual orientation, or gender identity.

L-HEALTH is a project funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program of the European Union. With a budget of nearly 420,000 euros, it was launched in December 2023 and will last for two years. Its coordinators are IDIAPJGol researchers Anna Ponjoan and Constanza Jacques-Aviñó.

Structural masculinity

Dr. Ponjoan reports that “Lesbians have traditionally been invisible, both in clinical practice and in research, mainly because of structural masculinity and lesbophobia.” In this sense, L-HEALTH "intends to contribute to reducing stigma and discrimination, which are still present in primary care teams, where the heteronormativity of patients is assumed".

In addition to the IDIAPJGol, the L-HEALTH consortium is participated by the Biomedical Research Institute of Girona (IDIBGI), the Public Health Agency of Barcelona (ASPB), the Spanish NGO SIDA Studi, dedicated to the promotion of sexual health, and the intersectional lesbian and feminist network EL*C.

Kick off

The project started with a first face-to-face meeting that has taken place at the IDIAPJGol headquarters on Monday, April 22. This meeting has coincided with Lesbian Visibility Week, which will culminate on April 26 with the celebration of Lesbian Visibility Day.

During this first meeting, the five partners presented the goals of the project and established its scope and planning. The partners also had the opportunity to gain firsthand insight into violences against lesbians by visiting the exhibition “Fanzine ‘Lesbofòbia: vers i revers d’una violència patriarcal”, organised by the association Creación Positiva at Ca la Dona. This initiative explores the violence LesBians receive.