ArticleSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2024
Experiences of and recommendations for LGBTQ+-affirming substance use services: an exploratory qualitative descriptive study with LGBTQ+ people who use opioids and other drugs.
Article in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Barriers and facilitators to initiating and adhering to harm reduction services among people who inject drugs in the United States: a systematic review.Harm reduction journal · 2026Pooled it
- Patient and provider experiences with opioid use disorder care delivered via telehealth: A systematic mixed-studies review.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Pooled it
- Development and Validation of a Provider-Specific Anticipated Stigma Scale for People Who Inject Drugs.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Substance Use Patterns Across the Sexual Identity Spectrum Among U.S. Individuals.The American journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- 'Gambling is an escape': a qualitative study of problematic gambling among sexually diverse adults in Canada.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Spatializing Substance Use and Sexual Behaviors of Queer Men and Non-binary Individuals During COVID-19.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Facilitators, barriers, and strategies for optimizing engagement in recovery community centers among sexual minority people in the U.S. Northeast.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Lifetime Nonprescribed Opioid Use by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Identification Among U.S. High-School Students.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Barriers and facilitators to accessing addiction treatment services for sexual minority (LGBQ+) people: systematic review.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2026Review
- Sexual minority (LGBQ+) women's experiences of accessing addiction services: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Exploring perceptions of alcohol and other drug (AOD) service workers regarding the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) clients in accessing public residential treatment in Victoria, Australia.International journal of transgender health · 2026Article
- Interpersonal Health Care Discrimination and Delayed Alcohol Use Treatment Among Sexual Minority Adults With Multiple Stigmatized Identities.Stigma and health · 2025Article
- Integrating Primary Care Services into a Rural Behavioral Health Facility in Northern Arizona: Perspectives of Healthcare Providers and Administrative Staff.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- "PrEP is always on the table": mixed methods study of provider willingness to refer/link clients to PrEP in community sexual health and drug use-related programs.Journal of HIV/AIDS & social services · 2025Article
- Observing Types and Successes of Alcohol Cessation Attempts Among Young Sexual and Gender Minority People Assigned Male at Birth in The RADAR Cohort Study.Psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity · 2025Article
- Qualitative insights into drug use safety strategies and social support among sexual minority women who inject drugs in Baltimore, Maryland.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Intersectionality in substance use disorders: Examining gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation in the 2021-2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- Using a Sober Curious Framework to Explore Barriers and Facilitators to Helping Sexual Minority Women Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms: Protocol for a Descriptive Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Barriers to uptake of harm reduction techniques for GBMSM who use drugs in night-clubs and sex-on-premises venues in London and the Southeast: a mixed-methods, qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- 2S/LGBTQ+ youth substance use and pathways to homelessness: A photovoice study.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other LGBTQ populations (LGBTQ+; e.g., asexual individuals) have higher rates of substance use (SU) and disorders (SUD) compared to heterosexual and cisgender populations. Such disparities can be attributed to minority stress, including stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings. LGBTQ+-affirming SU treatment and related services remain limited. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative descriptive study was to characterize LGBTQ+ people's experiences in SU services and recommendations for LGBTQ+- affirming care.
methodsWe conducted demographic surveys (characterized using descriptive statistics) and individual qualitative interviews with N = 23 LGBTQ+ people. We employed flexible coding and a thematic analysis approach to describe participants' experiences with stigma, discrimination, and support within SU services at the patient-, staff-, and organizational-level; and participant recommendations for how to make such services LGBTQ+-affirming. We highlighted components of minority stress and mitigators of adverse stress responses throughout our thematic analysis.
resultsPatient-level experiences included bullying, name-calling, sexual harassment, and physical distancing from peers; and support via community-building with LGBTQ+ peers. Staff-level experiences included name-calling, denial of services, misgendering, lack of intervention in peer bullying, and assumptions about participants' sexuality; and support via staff advocacy for LGBTQ+ patients, holistic treatment models, and openly LGBTQ+ staff. Organizational-level experiences included stigma in binary gendered program structures; and support from programs with gender-affirming groups and housing, and in visual cues (e.g., rainbow flags) of affirming care. Stigma and discrimination led to minority stress processes like identity concealment and stress coping responses like SU relapse; support facilitated SU treatment engagement and retention. Recommendations for LGBTQ+-affirming care included non-discrimination policies, LGBTQ+-specific programming, hiring LGBTQ+ staff, routine staff sensitivity training, and gender-inclusive program structures.
conclusionsLGBTQ+ people experience stigma and discrimination within SU services; supportive and affirming care is vital to reducing treatment barriers and promoting positive health outcomes. The current study offers concrete recommendations for how to deliver LGBTQ+-affirming care, which could reduce SU disparities and drug overdose mortality overall.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.