Opening the closets of access and quality: an integrative review on the health of LGBTT populations

Abstract

The research aimed to study the situations that condition access and quality of health care to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transvestites and transsexuals (LGBTT) in health services from an integrative review of national and international literature, whose sample of 41 papers was selected in PubMed, Lilacs and SciELO databases from 2007 to 2018. Access and health issues of LGBTT people were discussed in three dimensions: relational, concerning intersubjective relationships among users and professionals; organizational, concerning the organization of services and work processes; and contextual, which covers the effect of vulnerable situations enmeshed with social determinants on the conditions of satisfaction of health needs. The related data showed that LGBTT populations are the target of prejudice, violence, and discrimination, which, added to different social indicators, engender a context of vulnerabilities in access and healthcare. It is necessary to transform health institutions’ practices and social relationships. Otherwise, there is a risk of increasingly warding off those populations from health services.

Key words
Sexual and gender minorities; Health services accessibility; Health care; Quality health care; Integrative review