LGBTQ Community Centers Play Vital Role in Mental Health Support

Surveys of LGBTQ community centers across the United States found that these venues provide critical front-line mental health services to a population that often faces stigma and a host of other challenges to their emotional well-being.

The research team, led by John Pachankis, Ph.D., the Susan Dwight Bliss Associate Professor of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of Yale’s LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative, collaborated with CenterLink, a coordinating hub of LGBTQ community centers across the United States. The team interviewed the CEOs and directors of 60 LGBTQ community centers in what is believed to be one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the role of these venues in promoting positive mental health outcomes.

The study found that, despite small budgets and limited mental health staff and resources, LGBTQ community centers are:

• Ideal venues through which to implement LGBTQ-affirmative, evidence-based mental health treatments.
• Especially appropriate sites for delivering low-cost, online and efficient treatment approaches to overcome barriers to wider implementation of needed mental health services to the LGBTQ community.
• Appropriate venues for reaching LGBTQ people nationwide with effective LGBTQ-focused mental health care.

“Our findings suggest that LGBTQ community centers are vital to the mental health of this community and, furthermore, that their numbers should be expanded so that they can reach a larger portion of the population,” Pachankis said. “These centers are really on the front line and have been for a long time.”

The study lays the groundwork for working with LGBTQ community centers nationwide to enhance their capacity to deliver evidence-based mental health care. Based on these results, Pachankis and his team are training about 120 mental health providers in nearly 60 LGBTQ community centers across 21 states to deliver LGBTQ-affirmative care.

LGBTQ populations represent one of the highest-risk groups for depression, anxiety, suicidality, substance abuse and other mental health problems. The increased risk is understood to result from the combined stressors facing this population, including stigma and discrimination. LGBTQ people seek mental health treatment at higher rates than the general population at the same time that many are still not reached because of financial concern, worries about provider competence and other barriers to care.

The study is published in the journal Psychiatric Services.