ABOUT THE LEARNING SESSION

While the NIH has identified sexual and gender minorities as well as racial and ethnic minorities as groups that face health disparities, what often is overlooked in research and clinical care is people living at the nexus of those two communities. Health disparities are a particular type of difference in health in which disadvantaged social groups, such as people from lower social, economic status, racial, ethnic minorities, women, sexual minorities and other groups, have persistently experienced social disadvantage or discrimination and have systematically experienced worse health or greater health risks than more advantaged groups as a result of systems of oppression. An intersectionality framework can have a meaningful impact and potentially better outcomes in behavioral health care. This presentation will review theoretical frameworks such as intersectionality and minority stress theory for understanding these dynamics and offer practical considerations for engaging in work to address these disparities.

Learning Objective: Describe how systems of oppression such as racism and heterosexism create unique health disparities (e.g., addiction and behavioral health care inequities) encountered by LGBTQ+ People of Color

Presenter: David G. Zelaya, PhD, (he/him/él) is an Assistant Professor at Brown University School of Public Health (SPH) within the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS), Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School within the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital, and an affiliated scientist at Yale University with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA).

Dr. Zelaya's program of research focuses on examining health disparities, from an intersectionality and minority stress lens, among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and sexual and gender minority communities and links to HIV risk, mental health, resilience, and alcohol use.  Clinically, he is interested in providing culturally competent behavioral health services to historically underserved communities (e.g., Spanish-speaking Latinx people; sexual and gender diverse people). Dr. Zelaya is actively involved in service at the national and local level. He was elected to serve on the Leadership Council of the National Latinx Psychological Association as the early career representative. Additionally, he is an appointed member of the APA workgroup on Journal Reporting Guidelines for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Justice in Psychological Science, a member of APA's Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, and he serves as the Director for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the SAMHSA-funded New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center. At Brown, Dr. Zelaya teaches Introduction to Health Disparities.

About the webinar: This webinar is hosted by the New England PTTC, a program funded through SAMHSA. This webinar was planned in response to an identified need for additional training on health disparities for the New England prevention workforce. This webinar is pre-approved by the Maine Prevention Certification Board, an IC&RC member board, for 1 contact hour for prevention specialists.