Assessing Need and Access to LGBTQ+ Affirming and Affordable Behavioral Healthcare in Chicago


Overall LGBTQ+ individuals are 2.5 times more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and substance abuse compared to heterosexual individuals. Howard Brown Health worked in partnership with other community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide behavioral health services throughout Chicago to research and better understand barriers and facilitators to accessing affordable and LGBTQ+ affirming behavioral healthcare in the greater Chicago area. The research also illustrates unmet mental and behavioral healthcare needs and highlights existing gaps in LGBTQ+ affirming and affordable behavioral health services in Chicago.

Centering Community Care

Centering Community Care, Howard Brown Health’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan, draws on the agency’s
decades of experience in healthcare delivery, public policy advocacy, and community engagement to
envision the next chapter of Howard Brown’s growth and community impact. With significant
progress made during its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, which include establishing the Center for
Education, Research, and Advocacy (ERA) and expanding into underserved West and South side
areas of the city, Howard Brown is poised to strengthen its reach and impact in the years ahead.

Guía de mejores prácticas para la investigación participativa basada en la comunidad sobre la salud de personas transgénero y no binarias

Esta guía describe las mejores prácticas para la investigación participativa basada en la comunidad (CBPR, por sus siglas en inglés) con comunidades transgénero y no binarias (TNB, por sus siglas en inglés). Esperamos que sea un recurso para las personas involucradas o interesadas en la investigación de la salud en la comunidad TNB y que haga que la CBPR sea accesible, factible y convincente.

Reflections of Trans and Nonbinary (TNB) Communities Navigating The COVID-19 Pandemic

This report is part of a rapid response research project designed to better understand some of the experiences of trans and nonbinary (TNB) people during the COVID-19 pandemic. This preliminary report is based on our initial stages of analysis. The process of reducing abundant and dynamic narratives into a research report is difficult and always partial. We start with who we are, how we did our research, what we found, and what curiosities we have moving forward with our TNB-led health research. We honor each and every person that took the time to share their stories with us and feel deeply interconnected to each participant. There are many ways to interpret and tell these stories, and this is one of them.

Strategic Planning Frameworks

The six frameworks were created and identified through feedback gathered from various Howard Brown Health staff members, Board of Directors members, and information collected through community feedback in advance of the strategic planning process.

Feedback on the first drafts of these descriptions was gathered from a large catchment of Howard Brown staff and stakeholders to ensure they were representative of the core values of Howard Brown. The frameworks were met with an overwhelming support and affirmation that these frameworks are core to the work of Howard Brown. The final drafts presented here incorporate edits obtained from these review sessions to ensure appropriate reading level utilized, inclusion of all components of Howard Brown service offerings, and appropriate representation of staff and patients.

SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
This site is not optimized for Internet Explorer. Please consider viewing the site in a modern browser such as Edge, Chrome or Firefox.