TORONTO, June 22, 2020 – Rainbow Health Ontario (RHO), a program of Sherbourne Health, today launched LGBT2SQ Health Connect, their new online learning platform dedicated to evidence-based LGBT2SQ health clinical and cultural competency training for Ontario healthcare and social service providers.

As a program dedicated to creating opportunities for the healthcare system to better serve LGBT2SQ communities, RHO has been delivering training across Ontario for over 10 years. This new learning platform significantly extends RHO’s reach by making its unique training available remotely and on-demand to providers across the province.

To get started, those interested can visit learn.rainbowhealthontario.ca today and sign up for the LGBT2SQ Foundations course on-demand or schedule themselves in for a facilitated session on LGBT2SQ or trans health through the calendar. Learners will get a certificate of completion for each course they finish.

To celebrate the launch of their online learning, RHO is making all training available through the platform temporarily free of charge until Dec. 31, 2020, after which time a cost recovery-based pricing model will be phased in. The learning platform’s release will be complemented by the launch of RHO’s new website, coming up later in June.

QUICK FACTS

  • In the last fiscal year alone, RHO’s in-person training reached 4,417 seats of training delivered over the course of 97 sessions;
  • The new online learning platform from RHO currently offers learners 3 different programs of modules covering LGBT2SQ and trans health, with more soon to come, including upcoming modules in French; and
  • RHO’s popular Trans Health Mentorship Call will be moving to the online learning platform, where members will have access to new features and more learning opportunities.

QUOTES

“We’re proud to release this bold product from RHO. This online learning platform is an excellent vehicle for sharing Sherbourne’s in-house knowledge across the province. With this, we hope to help catalyze the current momentum for LGBT2SQ health clinical and cultural competency in health care.”
– Hazelle Palmer, President & CEO, Sherbourne Health

“We’re excited to have captured our evidence-based expertise in these modules and eager for them to start being accessed, now at any time. RHO’s LGBT2SQ health training has been consistently at high-demand for years, and now this knowledge will be available to more Ontario healthcare providers than ever before.”
– Devan Nambiar, Program Manager, Rainbow Health Ontario

MEDIA CONTACT

Colleen Westendorf
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER – WEB & DIGITAL LEAD
Pronouns: She/Her
T: 647.730.3368
E: cwestendorf@sherbourne.on.ca

ABOUT RAINBOW HEALTH ONTARIO

A program of Sherbourne Health, Rainbow Health Ontario creates opportunities for the healthcare system to better serve LGBT2SQ communities. RHO offers training for healthcare providers across the province to feel more clinically and culturally competent in caring for their LGBT2SQ service users. RHO also supports system change by producing evidence-based print and web resources, contributing an LGBT2SQ health perspective to public policy processes, acting as a research catalyst and hosting Canada’s largest LGBT2SQ health conference. RHO is primarily funded by Ontario Health. RHO also receives community and donor support.

ABOUT SHERBOURNE HEALTH

Sherbourne Health is a dynamic provider of integrated health services, community programs and capacity-building initiatives that enable people and diverse communities to achieve wellness. As an urban health agency in downtown Toronto, Sherbourne provides holistic primary care and chronic disease management, mental health services, health promotion and education, and outreach and social supports. Sherbourne’s doors are open to everyone, with a focus on the LGBT2SQ communities, homeless and under-housed people and newcomers to Canada, whose complex needs are often not met by traditional health care. Sherbourne combines high quality clinical care with responsive, culturally appropriate community development programs that bring low-barrier services to people in the surrounding communities who need it most.