Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 30;13(1):143.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-024-02566-5.

Barriers and facilitators to mental health treatment access and engagement for LGBTQA+ people with psychosis: a scoping review protocol

Cláudia C Gonçalves  1 , Zoe Waters  2 , Shae E Quirk  3 , Peter M Haddad  3   4 , Ashleigh Lin  5 , Lana J Williams  3 , Alison R Yung  3   6
Affiliations

Barriers and facilitators to mental health treatment access and engagement for LGBTQA+ people with psychosis: a scoping review protocol

Cláudia C Gonçalves et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of psychosis has been shown to be disproportionately high amongst sexual and gender minority individuals. However, there is currently little consideration of the unique needs of this population in mental health treatment, with LGBTQA+ individuals facing barriers in accessing timely and non-stigmatising support for psychotic experiences. This issue deserves attention as delays to help-seeking and poor engagement with treatment predict worsened clinical and functional outcomes for people with psychosis. The present protocol describes the methodology for a scoping review which will aim to identify barriers and facilitators faced by LGBTQA+ individuals across the psychosis spectrum in help-seeking and accessing mental health support.

Methods: A comprehensive search strategy will be used to search Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Scopus, LGBTQ+ Source, and grey literature. Original studies of any design, setting, and publication date will be included if they discuss barriers and facilitators to mental health treatment access and engagement for LGBTQA+ people with experiences of psychosis. Two reviewers will independently screen titles/abstracts and full-text articles for inclusion in the review. Both reviewers will then extract the relevant data according to pre-determined criteria, and study quality will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklists. Key data from included studies will be synthesised in narrative form according to the Guidance on the Conduct of Narrative Synthesis in Systematic Reviews.

Discussion: The results of this review will provide a comprehensive account of the current and historical barriers and facilitators to mental healthcare faced by LGBTQA+ people with psychotic symptoms and experiences. It is anticipated that the findings from this review will be relevant to clinical and community services and inform future research. Findings will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.

Scoping review registration: This protocol is registered in Open Science Framework Registries ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AT6FC ).

Keywords: At risk mental state; Barriers; Clinical high risk; Facilitators; LGBT; Psychosis; Psychotic experiences; Treatment access; Treatment engagement; Ultra-high risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

In the last 3 years, PMH has received honoraria for lecturing from Janssen, NewBridge Pharmaceuticals, and Otsuka and royalties from edited textbooks (Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press).

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) Results. Seattle, WA: IHME, University of Washington. 2020. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/. Accessed 26 May 2023
    1. Moreno-Kustner B, Martin C, Pastor L. Prevalence of psychotic disorders and its association with methodological issues. A systematic review and meta-analyses. PLoS One. 2018;13(4):e0195687. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195687. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McGrath JJ, Saha S, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Bromet EJ, Bruffaerts R, et al. Psychotic experiences in the general population: a cross-national analysis based on 31 261 respondents from 18 countries. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015;72(7):697–705. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0575. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chakraborty A, McManus S, Brugha TS, Bebbington P, King M. Mental health of the non-heterosexual population of England. Br J Psychiatry. 2011;198(2):143–148. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.082271. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gevonden M, Selten J, Myin-Germeys I, De Graaf R, Ten Have M, Van Dorsselaer S, et al. Sexual minority status and psychotic symptoms: findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Studies (NEMESIS) Psychol Med. 2014;44(2):421–433. doi: 10.1017/S0033291713000718. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms