The health and well-being of LGBTQ serving and ex-serving personnel: a narrative review

Abstract

The relaxation of discriminatory policies against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) service personnel has led to increased diversity among military populations. Given this increase, it is important to assess sexual and gender minority groups’ health and well-being in the context of military service. This narrative review assessed these outcomes in LGBTQ military personnel. The electronic databases OVID Medline, PsycInfo, and Embase were searched for papers published between January 2000 and July 2018. Thirty papers were included. In line with life course model, studies aligned with four themes: (1) mental health and well-being; (2) stigma and healthcare utilization; (3) sexual trauma; and (4) physical health. These themes highlighted that LGBTQ military personnel and veterans have poorer mental health and well-being; report more stigma and barriers to mental healthcare, which reduces uptake of accessed healthcare services; experience more sexual trauma; and have poorer physical health than heterosexual military personnel and veterans. However, there are substantial gaps in the current evidence for this population. Future research should aim to address limitations of the literature, and to ensure that data on LGBTQ personnel and veterans is collected as standard.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ
• military personnel
• review
• veterans
• well-being

Note

Disclosure statement

NTF sits on the Independent Group Advising on the Release of Data (IGARD) at NHS Digital. NTF is also a trustee of a veterans’ charity. KAM is an active duty member of the US Air Force. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care, the MoD, the US Air Force, or the US Department of Defense.

Notes

1 See news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/458625.stm

Additional information

Funding

SAMS’ salary is partly paid by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust and King’s College London (KCL). NTF and SAMS are part funded by the UK MoD.