________________________________________________________________ Cultural Humility in Healthcare
People with disabilities face several barriers to accessing health- care. These include the following (CDC, 2025): • One in four persons does not have a primary healthcare provider. (Age group: 18-44 years) • One in four people has an unmet healthcare need because of cost in the past year. (Age group: 18-44 years) • One in six people did not have a routine check-up in the past year. (Age group: 45-64 years) Disability often compounds issues of poverty and access that can lead to an array of health consequences such as substance abuse, domestic violence, malnutrition, and even chronic mental health conditions. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning Population (LGBTQ) The LGBTQ population is another his- torically oppressed group in the U.S. Until the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, LGBTQ individu- als were not able to marry in most states. There are more than 5.5 million LGBTQ individuals living in the U.S. The LGBT community face barriers to fair and equal access to employment, housing, healthcare, and public accommodation. There are several nondiscrimination laws on federal, state, and local levels that protect people from discrimi- nation based on such factors as age, sex, and national origin. However, until 2020, federal law did not protect individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity (Pew Research Center, 2024b). The Pew Research Center conducted a national public opinion study on the state of the LGBTQ community in 2025. The survey included interviews with 3,959 self-identified LGBTQ adults aged 18 and older on the experiences of LGBTQ Ameri- cans. The report was made possible with support from the Trusts and from the People & Voices Initiative (Pew Research Center, 2025). Major findings from the survey include the following (Pew Research Center, 2025): • 61% of LGBTQ adults say there is at least a fair amount of acceptance for people who are gay or lesbian. About half (52%) say the same for people who are bisexual. Far fewer say there’s a great deal or fair amount of acceptance for people who are nonbinary (14%) or transgender (13%). Most adults say there is more acceptance today compared with 10 years ago for these groups. • Majorities of gay or lesbian adults (73%) and
• Discrimination adversely impacted the mental and economic well-being of many LGBTQ Americans, including one in two participants who reported moderate or significant negative psychological impacts. • 70% of transgender adults say they have feared for their personal safety at some point. About half of gay or lesbian adults (52%) and 28% of bisexual adults say the same. • • Transgender adults are more likely than others to say they have been treated poorly by health care professionals (42% vs. 24% of gay or lesbian adults and 16% of bisexual adults). Self-Assessment Question 4. All the following statements are accurate EXCEPT: A) In the U.S. 61 million adults live with a disability. B) The type of functional disability that has the highest percentage is that of mobility. C) More than half of LGBTQ Americans report hiding a personal relationship. D) Transgender individuals face unique obstacles to accessing healthcare. The complexity of individual diversity is inclusive of not just racial and ethnic identity but also of variables such as socio- economic class, disability, and LGBTQ status. While these facets of diversity are not exhaustive, they do represent some important categories of diversity. Healthcare professionals must consider the unique array of diverse identities that are represented within each individual encountered in each thera- peutic relationship. The complexity embodied within each patient affects the way that the patient understands and views the healthcare professional and the professional relationship, just as the complexity of the healthcare provider’s diversity dimensions affects the way that the healthcare professional understands and views each patient. It is impossible to pro- vide information that allows healthcare professionals to gain knowledge about categories of people and how they behave or view the world, because not only is the variation within individual ethnicities and races endless, but the variation within each individual also is endless. Instead, healthcare professionals should aim to understand the societal landscape that privileges and oppresses individuals. The experiences of oppression experienced by various diverse groups are likely to provide them with a unique perspective on both the larger society and on the relationship with healthcare professionals.
transgender adults (68%) say they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their sexual identity.
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