In a meeting held Feb. 17 at the Chicago Department of Public Health ( CDPH ) , 333 S. State, the Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Use and Abuse announced that it has started a Web site that functions as an information repository.
The Web site, www.ChicagoLGBTSubstance.com, has several pages, including "Body, Mind, & Soul," which discusses emotional and mental health in addition to the physical; "Substances," which tackles alcohol, opiates and tobacco, among other drugs; and "Chicago Services," which provides a list of references and agencies that aid in drug treatment, but which also includes a chat room.
Pamela McCann, one of the task force's new co-chairs, stated that the site cover material the task force developed over nine months. She also discussed the recent Creating Change conference that took place in Dallas and how the social/online media is "generation-specific." McCann added that the Twitter hash tag for that conference is "cc10," meaning that tweets that mention an item with a "#" prefix will appear when the tag is typed in the search box; she said that one has been proposed for the task force.
Simone Koehlinger, a former co-chair who is the CDPH's director of the office of LGBT health, gave a presentation on the top 10 lesbian health priorities. In doing so, she cited a paper from the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association entitled "Top 10 Things Lesbians Should Discuss with their Healthcare Provider."
The issues covered in the paper include breast cancer, depression/anxiety, heart health, gynecological cancer, fitness, tobacco, alcohol, substance use, domestic violence and osteoporosis. During her talk, Koehlinger presented several startling statistics—including that, according to one study conducted by Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women ( CHLEW ) , 20 percent of bisexual women and lesbians in the sample had attempted suicide at least once. However, the "good news," as Koehlinger stated, was that the study also found that 47 percent of lesbians had seen a mental-health professional within the last two years.
Ed Negron, the task force's other co-chair, said that the group will explore aspects of LGBT health that reflect the entire community. Negron said that the task force will "focus on one letter at a time in the LGBTQ community, which will give us a wider range of [ ideas ] to come up with."
Reflecting a new agenda that includes quarterly meetings instead of monthly ones, McCann said that the next general meeting will take place May 19. However, a March 2 meeting is planned that will focus on the task force's direction; consultant/executive coach H Walker is slated to attend.
