Designing Technology to Support Health Information and Services Seeking for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Abstract

Many LGBTQIA+ individuals’ resort to seeking health information and services online and through other digital sources due to their fear of discrimination and stigma. Thus, the current research investigates how LGBTQIA+ individuals use technology to find health information, seek health services, and interact with their healthcare providers. Online surveys and Zoom interviews were conducted with people over 18 years old, who self-identify as LGBTQIA+, to acquire a better understanding of their health information seeking behaviors, their interactions with healthcare providers, and the technologies they use to manage their health and well-being. In particular, we examined the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on their health-related behaviors. We also investigated if healthcare providers were collecting LGBTQIA+ identity information and if so, how they were utilizing that information.

Our research aims to answer these questions: Do digital sources provide those who identify as LGBTQIA+ with reliable, accurate, and inclusive health information and services that cover all their needs as LGBTQIA+ individuals? Could collecting and using LGBTQIA+ identity information as part of the electronic medical record improves interactions with healthcare providers, provide more holistic healthcare, and increase accessibility to health information and services for the LGBTQIA+ community? Could new or improved technologies help enrich LGBTQIA+ individuals’ health information seeking experiences and access to health services, as well as facilitate patient-provider interactions? Our goal is to identify the challenges and barriers LGBTQIA+ individuals experienced when seeking health information and accessing health care services. The findings of our study will be used to inform the design of new or improved technological solutions to alleviate the identified challenges.