LGBTQ Health

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) health research traditionally has been approached from a biomedical framework that emphasizes health risks and deficits and focuses on individual-level determinants of health. Researchers at the Columbia University School of Nursing are working to expand theoretical frameworks and perspectives on LGBTQ health and broaden the focus of research to include social determinants of health—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. Our research focuses on LGBTQ people across the life span, and employs innovative longitudinal, dyadic, and sibling-comparison designs. We strive to identify very specifically what the research barriers are and what the priorities should be, to conduct research that can inform practice, and to use this research to enhance the well-being, health, and health care of the people for whom we care.