This substance use program understands LGBTQ culture

Rochester Regional Health has a chemical dependency program for people who identify as LGBTQ. Provided by Rochester Regional Health

Chemical dependency programs can be unfriendly to LGBTQ people, and that becomes a barrier to recovery.

Some programs are not designed for LGBTQ cultural issues. So you spend a lot of time sorting out pronouns and gender issues, sexual orientation issues, partner issues, those kinds of things and don’t address the substance use problem.

Kudos to Rochester Regional Health for being designated as LGBTQ-friendly for chemical dependency for its Affirming Care program. In the video that follows, Emily Kirkland, a member of our community and also the director of the LGBTQ chemical dependency clinic, talks about the importance of this LGBTQ recognition for chemical dependency.

This is tough work because people are in different places in terms of acknowledging their chemical dependency. And they don't always understand how it's attached to behavior that can also be risky for health in terms of HIV, sexually transmitted infections; all of those things. Drug use can be part of the sexual experience for some people.

Emily Kirkland leads the Affirming Care program at Rochester Regional Health. Provided by Emily Kirkland.

But the problem, as Emily said, is that most programs are stigmatizing. It's a challenge to overcome those issues to get to the heart of the matter, which is to help people deal with their addiction.

My guess is that a program like this has a higher rate of success because it's tailored so specifically to some of the underlying issues. This is much needed because it removes barriers to help speed up recovery or improve the chances of recovery.

If you want to know more about Affirming Care, call (585) 723-7233.