The inSocial Work Podcast- Wounded Bonds: Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual (GLB) Military Service Members and Veterans gave great insight on the LGBT military community and how we as social workers can better serve them. Dr. Lisa Butler conduct an interview with Dr. Michael Pelts and Dr. David Albright to discussed their review of the social work profession’s literature, implication for social work education and practice, and the training needed by social workers to effectively serve this population. Let’s take a closer look at what Dr. Pelts and Dr. Albright had to say.
While Dr. Pelts and Dr. Albright were examining the history and context of the U.S. military’s treatment of LGBT service members and veterans, they learned that out of the 25 million …show more content…
Pelts and Dr. Albright explained that the LGBT community often avoid care because of discrimination from healthcare providers, which leads to an increase in healthcare needs. On the other hand, more training is needed when it comes to patients ' gender identity. More training that consist of how to address this population (use of pronouns and names) and special needs for confidentiality. It 's also important to train around the awareness of LGBT patients and how to avoid projecting personal values and beliefs when providing services. The Department of Veterans Affairs have a directive on administering healthcare to transgender veterans. This directive includes non-discrimination policies and hormones treatments along with other treatments that are related to transitioning, but the VA does not pay nor perform sexual reassignment …show more content…
Pelts and Dr. Albright emphasized the role of social workers when working with this population. They expressed that the LGBT community within the military is important for social workers to work with because every social worker will work with veterans and their families either directly or indirectly. Moreover, the vast majority of services are provided outside of the military. Social workers play an important role because they are the professionals who are mostly providing them with needed resources. In regards to social work education and training, Social workers really need to emphasize how societal stigma impacts the individual, their health, their mental health, and service delivery; social workers should avoid assuming heterosexual and gender; social workers should explore ways that avoids imposing personal beliefs and values upon this community; and social workers should be inclusive of LBGT veterans. As social workers we have to include these things into our training and practice.
In Conclusion, it 's important to be mindful of what we are doing and what our environment is portraying as social workers. We want to avoid imposing our own beliefs and values upon the LGBT in the military as well as in the civilian community. Although the military has taken many steps to accommodate the needs of the LGBT community, there is still a need for advocating for this population outside the military to eliminate many challenges they still
While Dr. Pelts and Dr. Albright were examining the history and context of the U.S. military’s treatment of LGBT service members and veterans, they learned that out of the 25 million …show more content…
Pelts and Dr. Albright explained that the LGBT community often avoid care because of discrimination from healthcare providers, which leads to an increase in healthcare needs. On the other hand, more training is needed when it comes to patients ' gender identity. More training that consist of how to address this population (use of pronouns and names) and special needs for confidentiality. It 's also important to train around the awareness of LGBT patients and how to avoid projecting personal values and beliefs when providing services. The Department of Veterans Affairs have a directive on administering healthcare to transgender veterans. This directive includes non-discrimination policies and hormones treatments along with other treatments that are related to transitioning, but the VA does not pay nor perform sexual reassignment …show more content…
Pelts and Dr. Albright emphasized the role of social workers when working with this population. They expressed that the LGBT community within the military is important for social workers to work with because every social worker will work with veterans and their families either directly or indirectly. Moreover, the vast majority of services are provided outside of the military. Social workers play an important role because they are the professionals who are mostly providing them with needed resources. In regards to social work education and training, Social workers really need to emphasize how societal stigma impacts the individual, their health, their mental health, and service delivery; social workers should avoid assuming heterosexual and gender; social workers should explore ways that avoids imposing personal beliefs and values upon this community; and social workers should be inclusive of LBGT veterans. As social workers we have to include these things into our training and practice.
In Conclusion, it 's important to be mindful of what we are doing and what our environment is portraying as social workers. We want to avoid imposing our own beliefs and values upon the LGBT in the military as well as in the civilian community. Although the military has taken many steps to accommodate the needs of the LGBT community, there is still a need for advocating for this population outside the military to eliminate many challenges they still