Rainbow Health Initiative
Encyclopedia
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
-based 501(c)3 organization dedicated to "improving the health of gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
Minnesotans through education, clinical practice, research and advocacy." Founded in 2000 by physicians and health advocates, RHI has re-framed the discussion of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
health in Minnesota from HIV/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
to a broader definition of the health disparities
Health disparities
Health equity refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations....
affecting LGBT persons.
Educational Activities
RHI hosted a regional LGBT health-forum in 2005 to present the findings of their tobacco research and gather the community to determine the next steps. They presented a community-nominated GLBT Health Advocate Award to Dr. Eli ColemanEli Coleman
Eli Coleman, Ph.D., L.P. is the director of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health...
for his many contributions to improving the health of GLBT Minnesotans. Additionally, RHI has hosted a regular Seminars & Speaker's Series on a variety of LGBT-Health related topic. Volunteers from the organization also frequently participate in community panels and events. RHI offers presentations, lectures and training on LGBTQ Health Topics to health professions and health professionals in training. RHI annually conducts a student lecture series during National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week at the University of MN Medical School.
Research Activities
RHI is involved in ongoing community-based participatory research to utilize community perceptions and experiences to develop programs that ultimately improve the health of LGBTQ Minnesotans. Since 2005, RHI has collected thousands of community health assessments on self-identified LGBTQ people. These data is then disseminated to the community to develop reports, organizational directions, and community education. Additional innovative exploratory research projects include determining causes for the significantly elevated pregnancy rates among LGBTQ Youth, and developing physician-delivered smoking cessation interventions for people living with HIV/AIDS. Past data includes top health concerns, insurance status, whether an individual has disclosed their sexual orientationSexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
to their health care provider, and views on tobacco control
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. It became the first World Health Organization treaty adopted under article 19 of the WHO constitution. The treaty came into force on February 27, 2005...
. They also conducted focus groups in several communities (lesbian, bisexual, gay men, transgender, deaf, and greater Minnesota) to better understand why LGBT people smoke, what public health strategies are most effective at reaching the community, and to understand attitudes toward [smoke-free policies]. They published a report entitled, Creating an Effective Tobacco Plan for Minnesota's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities..
Advocacy Activities
RHI works with mainstream and LGBTQ health and human service organizations to advocate for policies and programming to improve the health LGBTQ people in Minnesota. As the lead agency of the Minnesota LGBTQ Health & Wellness Coalition and the Tobacco-Free Lavender Communities, RHI utilizes community mobilization strategies to engage community members to effectively change the state of LGBTQ health in MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. To increase the capacity of organizations and community leaders to address LGBTQ health, RHI offers funding to innovative projects that address LGBTQ health and wellness.