Preparing social workers for practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use: perceptions from students, alumni, and service providers

Abstract

Trends in the field of service among those with alcohol and other drug addictions highlight the urgent need for schools of social work to effectively train students to serve clients with substance use disorders, as well as to have cultural competence to effectively serve disproportionately affected and historically underserved lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) consumers. Online surveys and interviews examined graduate social work (MSW)/certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC) student preparedness to work in the field of addictions with members of the LGBT community within one university located within the United States. Overall, results indicated that students and alumni did not feel adequately prepared through coursework to practice with LGBT populations affected by substance use, while still feeling clinically competent to practice with LGB populations moreso than with transgender consumers. Similar findings related to unique differences associated with perceptions of faculty support, introducingLGBT topics and how they are handled in the classroom, along with field preparedness to practice with LGB individuals when compared to members of the transgender community. A majority of service providers noted an overall commitment and competence to serve LGBT consumers as well as positive perceptions of students and alumni to do the same. Implications will examine the critical role of faculty in addressing some of the challenges related to effective preparation of social work students to practice with LGBT consumers affected by substance use disorders, along with suggestions for changes within the curricula, and the need for ongoing field trainings and unique placement experiences.

Delivering transgender-specific knowledge and skills into health and allied health studies and training: a systematic review

“…However, we noticed education approaches of other professions such as pharmacy, social work, or physician assistants. The subject of culturally competent and gender-affirmative care concerns a wide range of disciplines, and evidence proves a lack of preparedness and knowledge about unique needs and problems of transgender clients across many professions [80][81][82][83][84][85]. Therefore, a positive aspect to highlight is the effort of three authors to design an IPE activity by using case discussion in groups [54], video discussions [55] or standardised patient simulations [53].…”

“…In addition, the number of hours dedicated to LGBTQI health is highly variable [81,92,94] but has a major influence on students' preparedness, attitudes, and knowledge along with the exposure to LGBT clients [81]. But as several studies identified providers have lower knowledge and feel more discomfort when caring for transgender individuals compared to LGB people [84,[95][96][97] it may be wise to discuss the subject separately. This is in line with the results of Tyler et al [56] who described their students performed significantly worse in a scenario with a transgender client than with a bisexual client.…”