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The Impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQIA+ Individuals’ Technology Use to Seek Health Information and Services

  • Conference paper
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Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (PH 2021)

Abstract

Fear of discrimination and stigma has often led many LGBTQIA+ individuals to seek out health information and services online and rely on digital sources. Has the LGBTQIA+ community’s heavy reliance on digital use prior to the COVID-19 pandemic lessened the impact on their experience in seeking health information and services compared to the general population? Were the already existing health disparities and inaccessibility issues exacerbated?

An online survey study was conducted with 155 people who self-identified as LGBTQIA+. The goals were to investigate the technologies used by LGBTQIA+ individuals to manage their health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on how they used technology to find health information, seek health services, and interact with their providers. The challenges and barriers that LGBTQIA+ respondents experienced when accessing health information and services during the pandemic were also identified, along with how these challenges may be alleviated through new or improved technological and non-technological solutions.

Our findings indicate an increased reliance on Internet-based health information seeking, mail order prescriptions, virtual appointments, and telehealth. Most participants were satisfied with the changes in format including the virtual platform used for interacting with healthcare providers. However, a substantial decrease or delay in healthcare and pharmaceutical access have been identified. We also found an increased, recurrent access to mental healthcare for coping with the pandemic. COVID-19 impacted almost every aspect of the LGBTQIA+ community’s health.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “LGBTQIA+” is an inclusive umbrella term for all non-heteronormative gender identities and sexualities [43].

  2. 2.

    “Lesbian” is a woman who is sexually and emotionally attracted to another woman [43].

  3. 3.

    “Gay” individuals are sexually attracted to the same sex or same gender as themselves [43].

  4. 4.

    “Bisexual” means to be attracted to two genders, the same gender, and others [43].

  5. 5.

    “Transgender” or “trans” is a person whose gender is different than the sex they were assigned at birth [43].

  6. 6.

    “Queer” is an umbrella term to describe anyone who is not heterosexual and/or cisgender [43].

  7. 7.

    “Intersex” people are “born with variations of sex characteristics that may involve genital ambiguity and/or combinations of chromosomal genotypes and sexual phenotypes other than XY-male and XX-female [43]”.

  8. 8.

    “Asexual” people do not experience sexual attraction or desire [43].

  9. 9.

    “Out” refers to being openly and publicly LGBTQIA+, “coming out of the closet” occurs when they publicly begin to announce their LGBTQIA+ identity [43].

  10. 10.

    “Closeted” refers to not publicly disclosing their LGBTQIA+ identity [43].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI, 48502, USA

    Taylor Schell Martinez & Charlotte Tang

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  1. Taylor Schell Martinez
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  2. Charlotte Tang
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Correspondence to Taylor Schell Martinez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel

    Hadas Lewy

  2. Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel

    Refael Barkan

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Martinez, T.S., Tang, C. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQIA+ Individuals’ Technology Use to Seek Health Information and Services. In: Lewy, H., Barkan, R. (eds) Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare. PH 2021. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 431. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99194-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99194-4_5

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