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LGBTQ+ COVID Impacts Survey Report, June 2021

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BCH Red Scale Care Model Survey: A Nursing Intervention to Reduce Workplace Violence in Acute Settings

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November 2022
Panelist, Understanding the Pandemic, LGBTQ+ People, and Public Policy: Supporting the book "COVID-19, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and Public Policy"

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The Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA), the annual regional conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), is intended to provide educational opportunities for scholars (faculty and students), practitioners (administrators and policymakers), and others interested in public service in a collaborative environment by educating all on current issues, research, and practice in public and nonprofit organizations. This conference will be NECoPA's 13th year of bringing together scholars and practitioners from the northeast region, the United States, and internationally.
Conference Theme and Proposal Submission
The theme, Public and Nonprofit Administration in a Hybrid-Connected 21st Century, recognizes that the events of the last two years accelerated the pace at which both our professional and personal lives have become intricately intertwined with technology, as we live and work in a hybrid - virtual and in-person - world. Public and nonprofit administration has been tasked with adapting and navigating public programs in this world to ensure they continue to be delivered in an effective, efficient, economical, and equitable manner.

We welcome proposals related to this theme in suggested topic areas:

* Innovation and Technology in Public Service

* Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Public Service

* Organizational Management, Behavior, and Theory

* Politics and Administration

* Performance Measurement & Program Evaluation

* Dynamics of Collaboration and Contracting

* Social Justice through Public Service

* Other Pressing Topics in Public and Nonprofit Research and Practice

Using the above prompts as a guide, submit your individual proposal (250-word limit) or fully formed panel proposal or workshop (400-word limit) through the proposal submission portal

Proposals are due by July 31, 2022, and notice of acceptance will be announced by August 31, 2022.
Host and Format
The 2022 NECoPA conference is being hosted by "NECoPA, Inc. and Friends" - the NECoPA Board along with a generous group of NECoPA-minded colleagues have volunteered their time to plan and deliver this conference. We will be utilizing a TBD virtual conference/session management platform and will deliver sessions via video. Please contact NEConferencePA@gmail.com for more information.

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2022 northeast conference on public administration (necopa)

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2022 northeast conference on public administration (necopa) tickets

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2022 Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA)

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The Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA), the annual regional conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), is intended to provide educational opportunities for scholars (faculty and students), practitioners (administrators and policymakers), and others interested in public service in a collaborative environment by educating all on current issues, research, and practice in public and nonprofit organizations.

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First Study On LGBTQ+ People And Vaccine Reluctance - Out Boulder County

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 1, 2021 Contact: Mardi Moore, Executive Director, Out Boulder County mmoore@outboulder.org , 720.346.1836 First Study on LGBTQ+ People and Vaccine Reluctance Out Boulder County has completed what may be the nation's first survey of COVID-19 v

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When a coronavirus task force in Boulder County, Colorado, was considering how to disseminate newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines in December, task force member Kaylin Gray had an idea: Why not survey the local LGBTQ+ community to find out their attitudes on vaccination?

The task force agreed the information would be useful, but they had to act fast. So Gray, a researcher, psychologist and treasurer of local LGBTQ+ organization Out Boulder County, designed a survey asking participants: If you could get a COVID-19 vaccine today, would you take it? The survey went out on social media in December and remained open into early January.

The Courage to Be Seen: Trans Women in South Florida

"If we could get 50 responses, wouldn't that be great?" Gray remembers thinking.

Instead, 272 people responded, and their answers revealed a surprising disparity: People who identify as LGBTQ+ were more hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 than straight people. Not only did the survey offer one of the first looks at vaccine hesitancy in the LGBTQ+ community, it also sparked action by local health officials to do something about it.

Now, others are taking note.

Mardi Moore describes herself as an "old-school lesbian" and longtime activist. She came to Out Boulder County, a community organization and advocacy group, as its executive director seven years ago. Since the onset of the pandemic, Out Boulder County has worked closely with county officials to tackle financial and mental health challenges in the LGBTQ+ community.

But the survey signaled a new challenge: While 84% of respondents said they would take an available COVID-19 vaccine, 9% said they wouldn't and 7% said they were unsure. Within that latter 16%, LGBTQ+ respondents were more likely to respond "no" or "unsure" than straight respondents (17% vs. 9%).

Meanwhile, the share of people assigned female at birth who answered "no" or "unsure" (18%) was twice that of people assigned male (9%). And among those assigned female, respondents who identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community answered "no" or "unsure" at a higher rate than those who did not. Within subgroups stratified by gender and sex at birth, the highest percentage of those who answered "no" or "unsure" were LGBTQ+ cisgender females at 26%, followed by transgender people who were assigned female at birth at 18%.

Among the 24 people overall who said they wouldn't take the vaccine, respondents cited concerns about safety, a lack of information and mistrust of the government. One person who said they wouldn't get the vaccine asked in a write-in section if it could have long-term effects or even cause death.

"I'd like to know how this vaccine may impact people with autoimmune disorders," wrote another person who said they were unsure.

Survey respondents also offered their thoughts on how public officials might support people in getting the vaccine, with options ranging from providing frequent messaging to going door-to-door to provide information. One requested that people of color and the LGBTQ community not be overlooked, and another called for respecting people's pronouns.

"Take their word for it and make it easy to get. In other words, don't require medical records, etc," a respondent wrote.

The survey does have its limits: It focused on one county of some 326,000 people and had under 300 respondents. Among those who provided such information, most respondents were cisgender and assigned female at birth, and nearly 90% were white. Less than 1% of respondents were African American.

Still, Gray says, the survey revealed intersections of vulnerability. For example, white LGBTQ+ people and people of color reported roughly the same rate of hesitancy.

"We think LGBTQ needs to be considered a vulnerable community in terms of hesitancy," Gray says.

For Moore, the survey highlighted an ongoing frustration for her: A lack of data on COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy in HIV-positive populations, as well as a lack of data on whether LGBTQ+ communities are getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In the U.S., gay and bisexual men are the population most heavily affected by HIV.

When Out Boulder County tried to compare their results to similar studies, they came up with nothing. And while Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data-reporting categories for federal partners and jurisdictions include the sex, ethnicity and race of a person who was vaccinated against COVID-19, the agency doesn't include sexuality or gender as an option.

The lack of data plays into the lack of trust "our community has with doctors," Moore says. Without this information, Moore says it's hard to design an intersectional approach: How do you message around vaccine skepticism to queer people who are also disabled or have HIV?

As of late February, vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna were the only ones to receive emergency approval for use in the U.S. Last year, Pfizer amended its vaccine trial protocol to allow the inclusion of people living with HIV. Moderna, whose initial exclusion of people with HIV from its clinical trial sparked a Change.org petition, announced in August its intention to enroll people with the virus.

Yet, in part because of small sample sizes in the trials, needed data on the vaccines in people with HIV is not yet available. The CDC acknowledges this, while also noting that people living with HIV may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19 and may receive a vaccine.

But simply adding another data column to be filled in is just part of the battle; getting the data from vaccine partners is another. Earlier this month, the White House said nearly half of race and ethnicity data on vaccinations was missing.

To combat vaccine hesitancy, Beyrer says large advocacy groups that have garnered trust in the LGBTQ+ community should play a role in sharing information on the vaccines, centering themselves as trusted resources. He notes that these efforts must be intersectional: The LGBTQ+ community includes people of different races and ethnicities, and of varied ages.

Beyrer also says it's important to deliver vaccinations in settings where people feel comfortable expressing their identity.

In Philadelphia, that's what the Mazzoni Center - an LGBTQ+ wellness organization and COVID-19 vaccine provider - aims to be. The center has administered more than 700 Moderna doses to date. Of its 7,500 patients, nearly 1,200 are transgender.

Care "should be affirming from the time you walk in," Tatyana Woodard, a community engagement specialist for the center, says of its gender-affirming model. "Your pronouns should be respected, your preferred name should always be addressed."

Woodard says Mazzoni Center workers have seen vaccine skepticism within Philadelphia's transgender community. To help counter it, she led a livestream during which she and a medical provider answered questions. Woodard, a Black transgender woman, also filmed herself getting vaccinated.

"There's a lot of stigma around COVID-19," Woodard says. "Being from a marginalized community, we don't have a lot of trust for government and medical providers."

Providing the vaccine directly in an environment where people know they will be respected has helped, Woodard says. But she adds the center has been responding well to the pandemic since the start, so it's a bit of disappointment for her not to see the same, targeted action on a larger scale.

Yet efforts to reach members of the LGBTQ+ community with vaccine messaging and the vaccine itself soon could get a needed data boost. Roughly an hour away from the Mazzoni Center - and inspired by Out Boulder County's efforts in Colorado - the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is planning to roll out a statewide survey on vaccination in the LGBT+ community, working with four similar centers elsewhere in the state.

A goal is for the data collection to be used to improve vaccination policies, says Adrian Shanker, executive director of the Bradbury-Sullivan center. His organization is working with faculty members at Bryn Mawr College to receive institutional review board approval and analyze the data.

"We do want the ability to publish the results in ways that can be usable for improving access to the vaccine," Shanker says.

Unlike Out Boulder County's survey, the Pennsylvania survey will focus only on LGBTQ+ adults. Although the main focus of the survey will be vaccine hesitancy, the survey also will ask about compliance with other public health measures, including masking.

The results will be used to tailor the center's strategy for vaccinating patients, which Shanker says will be formed by trusted messengers in the community. The center already is asking known gender-affirming physicians around the state to get certified as vaccine providers.

But Shanker says surveys alone aren't enough: The LGBTQ+ community needs the CDC to collect more data as well.

"If we're not counted, we don't have the ability to best serve our community, to meet our community's needs," he says.

Back in Boulder County, public health officials are taking action after seeing the results of Out Boulder County's survey. Lizbeth Mendoza, a cultural broker for Boulder County Public Health who focuses on equity, praises Out Boulder County's commitment to collecting data and says the two organizations are working together: The public health department provides Out Boulder County with vaccine safety and efficacy information, she says, "and they tailor it to their community."

Additionally, Out Boulder County receives funding to devote to public health issues, including vaccination, as part of a countywide consortium of community health partners.

Moore says the organization has secured $5,000 that will go toward TV and social media ads explaining and promoting vaccination. The organization also plans to launch a vaccination site.

"We will have a vaccination station where our community can come and be seen in their full selves and get the vaccine," Moore says.

But with vaccine supply an issue in the U.S., Moore says her organization needs to think about how to retain trust. She says they won't even release a sign-up list for vaccines until they know the county has enough doses.

"So we don't further break and corrode the trust between the individual and health care," Moore explains.

Beyond learning that people wanted more information on the vaccines, Mendoza says the Out Boulder County survey underscores the value in public health departments teaming up directly with trusted community partners.

"Each community, they have their own separate messengers," Mendoza says. "So just getting to know those nuances of each community: how they like to be addressed, what are the messages that really impact them, (the messages) that really mean something based on what their experience is with the health care system. ... All we want is for everybody to get to a state of better health."

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Vaccine Hesitancy in the LGBTQ Community Poses Potential Challenge

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When a coronavirus task force in Boulder County, Colorado, was considering how to disseminate newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines in December, task force member Kaylin Gray had an idea: Why not survey the local LGBTQ+ community to find out their attitudes on vaccination? The task force agreed the information would be useful, but they had to act fast.

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Press Release:
https://www.outboulder.org/press-releases/obc-launches-mental-health-program

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LGBTQ+ Mental Health Town Hall, 9/1/2021

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Ya que nuestra intención no es ofrecer terapia a largo plazo, estamos buscando esa ayuda a largo plazo en la increíble comunidad de terapeutas y proveedores de salud mental. Estamos trabajando para crear una lista de referencias que incluya terapeutas competentes con la comunidad LGBTQ +, que sean calificados y que tengan la capacidad de aceptar clientes adicionales. Nuestro programa está destinado a que las personas puedan ver a un terapeuta en unos pocos días y brindar terapia a corto plazo durante tres meses o menos, y para satisfacer las necesidades inmediatas mientras se conecta a los clientes con un proveedor de salud mental a largo plazo. Esperamos que usted pueda ser uno de esos proveedores y que las referencias funcionen en ambos sentidos. Si su consultorio no tiene disponibilidad, pero anticipa tenerla en unas pocas semanas, podríamos usarlo como referencia en cuanto usted tenga espacio para los clientes que esperan su disponibilidad.
Si está interesado en asociarse con nosotros, por favor complete este formulario.
Si desea saber más sobre nuestro programa The Point // El Puente, podemos programar una junta via Zoom para contarle más sobre nuestro programa y responder cualquier pregunta que usted pueda tener. Comuniquese con nosotros en thepoint@outboulder.org , en español puede comunicarse con David at david@umbrellacollective.org.

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Ya que nuestra intención no es ofrecer terapia a largo plazo, estamos buscando esa ayuda a largo plazo en la increíble comunidad de terapeutas y proveedores de salud mental. Estamos trabajando para crear una lista de referencias que incluya terapeutas competentes con la comunidad LGBTQ +, que sean calificados y que tengan la capacidad de aceptar clientes adicionales.

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Arm in Arm: LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Vaccine Equity & Coalition-Building 

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Arm in Arm: LGBTQ+ COVID-19 Vaccine Equity & Coalition-Building 

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Chapter 19 by Kaylin C. Gray &  Mardell J. Moore (2022)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 7, 2022

Contacts:

Mardi Moore, Executive Director, Out Boulder County
mmoore@outboulder.org , 720.346.1836

Michal Duffy, Director of Education and Research, Out Boulder County
mduffy@outboulder.org, 828.773.9624
LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Youth Led Study on Youth and Young Adult COVID-19 Vaccination Finds a Strong Correlation Between Economic Disadvantage, Race, and Vaccination Status
BOULDER, CO -

Out Boulder County in partnership with El Centro AMISTAD and Unwoven Ventures with the leadership of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) youth created what may be the nation's first LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth-led survey on COVID-19 vaccination uptake, acceptance, hesitancy, and resistance. A key finding of the survey is that economic disadvantage and race make a meaningful impact on vaccination rates and levels of acceptance.

"LGBTQ+ and BIPOC young people are too often ignored by the medical establishment and society. It was important to Out Boulder County and our partners to have youth lead the survey and to elevate voices in these too often ignored communities," said Mardi Moore, Executive Director of Out Boulder County which provides advocacy, services, programs and support to LGBTQ+ communities in Boulder County and beyond. "Understanding their views and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination is crucial to managing and ending this pandemic."

There were 420 respondents who met the criteria for inclusion in the survey. It consisted of 37 questions, was offered in both English and Spanish, and targeted youth ages 12 to 17 and young adults between the ages of 18 to 24. The survey was advertised by the staff and interns at Out Boulder County and El Centro AMISTAD through social media, direct marketing at events, outreach to partnering organizations, radio, school GSA networks, as well as yard signs in several locations.

There continues to be little research that examines the vaccination rates and attitudes toward vaccination of youth and young adults belonging to historically marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+, Hispanic/Latinx, Neurodivergent and individuals with Disabilities.

"Studying vaccination rates as well as views, attitudes, and barriers to vaccination at these intersections of identities revealed valuable data that should inform efforts to promote vaccination," said Michal Duffy, Director of Education and Research at Out Boulder County. "The data clearly reveal that a person's socio-economic status and identity impacts their views toward vaccination and their successful uptake of the vaccine."

When it comes to understanding COVID-19 vaccine reluctance, this information is crucial to an effective community vaccination program, which requires participation by people of every age group and demographic.
Economic Status Impact on Vaccination Rates
A key finding of this study is that economically disadvantaged respondents have lower rates of vaccination overall. Economic disadvantage made a much more significant impact on LGBTQ vaccination rates as compared to non-LGBTQ vaccination rates. The following bulleted data points illustrate this key finding.

40% of economically disadvantaged LGBTQ young adults ages 18-24 are vaccinated, where as the vaccination rates jump to 86% for those who are economically resourced. 70% of economically disadvantaged LGBTQ youth ages 12-17 are vaccinated compared to 81% who are economically resourced.

All non-LGBTQ respondents ages 18-24, whether economically disadvantaged or resourced, have a 78% vaccination rate. For youth ages 12-17, economically disadvantaged non-LGBTQ respondents are vaccinated at a slightly higher rate of 61% than those who are economically resourced at a rate of 58%.

The results also showed a significant relationship between race, economic advantage, and vaccination rates. Economically disadvantaged Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) respondents have a significantly higher vaccination rate than economically disadvantaged White respondents.

For financially disadvantaged respondents ages 12-17, BIPOC youth reported a 68% vaccination rate compared to 57% for White respondents. For ages 18-24, the difference is even greater at 80% of BIPOC respondents compared to 27% of White respondents.

Vaccine Acceptance, Hesitancy, and Resistance
While economically disadvantaged respondents revealed lower vaccination rates overall, they reported higher rates of vaccine acceptance (50% vs 30%) and hesitancy (23% vs 11%) and lower vaccine resistance (27% vs 59%), than those who are financially resourced.

This demonstrates an opportunity to reach economically disadvantaged, unvaccinated youth through innovative community-based strategies.

Another important finding is that BIPOC respondents have a significantly higher rate of vaccine acceptance and lower vaccine resistance than White respondents; this trend also holds true for Hispanic/Latinx respondents in comparison to non-Hispanic/Latinx respondents. White, non-LGBTQ respondents reported the lowest vaccination rate compared to both LGBTQ and Non-LGBTQ BIPOC, as well as White LGBTQ respondents.

For unvaccinated participants who reported that they are willing to get the vaccine if it is easily accessible (i.e., vaccine accepting), the highest reported barriers were parent-related, followed by transportation and not knowing where to get the vaccine or the cost. "My parents don't want me to get the vaccine" was reported as the top reason for the following respondent groups: White, non-Hispanic, English as the primary household language, assigned male at birth, transgender, nonbinary, and LGBTQ respondents.

Additional cited concerns that present opportunities for educational outreach to youth and young adults include: impacts on fertility, interactions with other conditions, associated costs, and accessibility and availability of vaccines.

Regardless of vaccination status, all respondents have concerns. Overall, mental health (65%) and physical health (58%) are the greatest concerns.
Opportunities
The survey findings demonstrated three important opportunities to reach unvaccinated youth and young adults.

Community-based outreach and education strategies aimed at economically disadvantaged, unvaccinated youth have the potential to make substantial impacts on vaccinate acceptance and uptake numbers.

Accessible and accurate vaccine education for parents about the importance and benefit of vaccination for youth and young adults that also addresses common misconceptions could remove the primary barriers facing vaccine-accepting youth and young adults.

All education efforts should include clear and accurate information addressing commonly cited concerns in the survey data including: impacts on fertility, interactions with other conditions, associated costs, and accessibility and availability of vaccines.

The full research report is available here.
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About Out Boulder County:

For over 25 years, Out Boulder County has advocated, educated and provided services, programs and support to Boulder County's LGBTQ+ communities. Our public policy advocacy is more important now than ever. www.outboulder.org

About Centro AMISTAD:

El Centro AMISTAD creates opportunities and programs that promote health equity, education, and quality of life for the Latino community in Boulder County. https://www.elcentroamistad.org/

About Unwoven Ventures:

Through strategic partnerships, Unwoven Ventures leverages original research, impact investments and grants to build community and create a more equitable and just world.

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LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Youth Led Study on Youth and Young Adult COVID-19 Vaccination Finds Surprising Results - Out Boulder County

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 7, 2022 Contacts: Mardi Moore, Executive Director, Out Boulder County mmoore@outboulder.org , 720.346.1836 Michal Duffy, Director of Education and Research, Out Boulder County mduffy@outboulder.org, 828.773.9624 LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Youth Led Study on Youth and Young Adult COVID-19 Vaccination Finds a Strong Correlation Between Economic Disadvantage, Race,

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A new survey of youth and young adults in Colorado has outlined statistics surrounding vaccination rates and hesitancy by sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and class - and local community-based organizations in New York City say some of the numbers are aligned with what they are seeing on the ground.

The survey, " Colorado Youth & Young Adult COVID-19 Vaccine Survey Results," featured 420 individuals between the ages of 12 and 24 who responded to 37 questions in English and Spanish about COVID-19 vaccination from August 19 to October 31 of last year.

Eighty-three percent of transgender individuals said they had been vaccinated compared to just 67 percent of cisgender respondents, while 77 percent of all LGBTQ respondents were vaxxed - 12 percent higher than the vaccination rate among non-LGBTQ individuals. Non-LGBTQ respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 had a 78 percent vaccination rate.

Seventy-three percent of BIPOC LGBTQ folks said they were vaccinated, which was slightly lower than the 81 percent of non-LGBTQ BIPOC folks who said they got jabbed. There was a wider vaccination gap reported among white respondents, with 79 percent of LGBTQ white people saying they were vaccinated compared to 42 percent of non-LGBTQ white people. Furthermore, 68 percent of financially disadvantaged BIPOC youth were vaccinated compared to just 57 percent of low-income white youth.

Young adults below the age of 24 saw greater disparities, as 27 percent of low-income white people were vaccinated compared to 80 percent of low-income BIPOC respondents.

While low-income BIPOC respondents under the age of 18 reported higher vaccination rates than low-income white respondents, the survey found that 70 percent of low-income LGBTQ youth between the ages of ages 12-17 were vaccinated - 11 percent lower than their peers with greater financial resources. Meanwhile, 40 percent of low-income LGBTQ folks between the ages of 18 and 24 reported that they had been vaccinated compared to 86 percent of wealthier queer young adults.

Even as some low-income individuals reported lower vaccination rates, those numbers were not necessarily aligned with vaccine acceptance. The low-income respondents reported greater vaccine acceptance than the more resourced participants - 50 percent compared to 30 percent - and much lower vaccine resistance. Just 27 percent of economically disadvantaged individuals said they were reluctant to get the vaccine compared to 59 percent of wealthier folks.

"Understanding their views and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination is crucial to managing and ending this pandemic," Mardi Moore, the executive director of Out Boulder County, an LGBTQ youth advocacy organization, said in a written statement on January 10.

Moore said the survey helps to "elevate voices" of LGBTQ and BIPOC young people who "are too often ignored by the medical establishment and society."

Michal Duffy, director of education and research at Out Boulder County, agreed.

"Studying vaccination rates as well as views, attitudes, and barriers to vaccination at these intersections of identities revealed valuable data that should inform efforts to promote vaccination," Duffy noted in a written statement.

"The data clearly reveal that a person's socio-economic status and identity impacts their views toward vaccination and their successful uptake of the vaccine," Duffy added.

Out Boulder County partnered with El Centro AMISTAD and Unwoven Ventures to conduct the survey with the organization's youth and young people.

Dr. Uri Belkind, associate director of medicine, adolescent medicine, and clinical director of Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, said the report helps provide insight for providers.

"This kind of report is critically important in helping healthcare providers - like us - better understand the challenges our clients face, to address health disparities in the adult population that can perhaps be stemmed earlier, as young adults," he told Gay City News in a written statement.

Why decline the shot?

Parental roadblocks were reported as the top reason why 55 percent of youth who said they wanted to get shots were not yet vaccinated. Nearly as many respondents reported side effects as their next biggest concern about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Belkind, a 45-year-old out gay man, agreed with the survey's findings, stating that clinicians have observed that "patients' families' stance on vaccination has indeed been a factor."

"This is most relevant in our population of patients who are still minors and are unable to consent on their own for the vaccine," Belkind stated.

Other patients cited "concerns that are popular in social media" and Belkind said they were also "not very receptive to factual information" about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.

However, Belkind said the clinic has seen a considerable decrease in hesitancy over time. A vast majority of Callen-Lorde patients have received at least one shot and patients are increasingly "reporting or requesting booster doses," he explained. State mandates have also made a difference, he said, and exclusion from social events due to vaccine requirements have been a motivating factor to 'just get it over with.'"

Vaccinating youth

Government influences proved to be important not only with mandates, but also with forming partnerships with community-based organizations. Together, agencies worked to vaccinate communities during the pandemic, as demonstrated in New York City.

Duffy underscored the importance of collaboration between public health agencies and community organizations, especially those serving historically underserved communities during the pandemic.

"Community-based organizations can serve as a trusted voice to reach underserved populations and offer visible representation that can contribute to higher vaccine acceptance and uptake," he said.

Bridget Hughes, an out lesbian chief program officer at Hetrick-Martin Institute, said city grants and collaboration with local government agencies boosted the organization's COVID-19 vaccination response for its 1,500 youth. The support allowed the organization to bring a health van to its offices twice last year, allowing clinicians to vaccinate up to 40 and 20 clients per visit, respectfully, and provide critical COVID-19 safety supplies.

"We're grateful for what we've got," Hughes said about the services and pandemic supplies HMI has received for its staff and clients due to its partnership with the city. "Marginalized communities trust that we're the ones to deliver."

Yet, improvements could be made. Duffy advocated for public health agencies to gather more sexual orientation and gender identity data. To increase vaccination rates for unvaccinated disadvantaged LGBTQ and BIPOC youth and young adults and their families, the survey team suggested targeted outreach and educational strategies addressing community concerns and questions.

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Survey Sheds Light on COVID Vaccination Numbers Among LGBTQ Youth

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A new survey of youth and young adults in Colorado has outlined statistics surrounding vaccination rates and hesitancy by sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and class - and local community-based organizations in New York City say some of the numbers are aligned with what they are seeing on the ground.

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Impact of therapist authentic expression on emotional tolerance in synergetic play therapy

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Impact of therapist authentic expression on emotional tolerance in synergetic play therapy

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Dion, L., & Gray, K. (2014). International Journal of Play Therapy, 23(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035495

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This journal publishes original research, theoretical articles and substantive reviews of topics germane to the play therapy modality.

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September 2022
Panelist, “COVID & LGBTQ Policy”

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National Academy of Public Administration

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National Academy of Public Administration 2022 Social Equity Leadership Conference

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RaJade M. Berry-James, North Carolina State UniversityFelipe Blanco, University of Nebraska-Omaha Kaitlyn Blume, National Academy of Public AdministrationDerick Brown, University of San FranciscoAgatha Caraballo, Florida International UniversityRichard L. Corriea, University of San FranciscoMaurice…