GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE to Monitoring Sexual Orientation

“Due to a lack of monitoring sexual orientation there is a dearth of evidence within the public sector around the specific needs and experiences of LGB people.”

In recent years we have seen huge strides towards greater rights and broader acceptance for LGB people. However, due to a lack of monitoring sexual orientation there is a dearth of evidence within the public sector around the specific needs and experiences of LGB people.

Monitoring is a fundamental first step to building this insight and will help build an evidence base on the specific experiences of this community, as well as better meeting the needs of all of your service users and staff.

Whilst this guide has been written with reference to Health and Social Care, it is relevant to all organisations who want to benefit from sexual orientation monitoring. By the end of this guide we hope you will understand the purpose and value of sexual orientation monitoring and importantly, feel confident to do so.

This guide is based on extensive consultations with service users. It includes case studies to highlight the benefits of monitoring and covers potential barriers you may face and how to overcome them.

This guide will help you understand:

• How and when it’s best to collect data;
• How you can analyse the data you collect to help improve your services; and
• The risks you need to think about and minimise, when implementing sexual orientation monitoring.

The benefits of monitoring can include:

• Better unstanding of the numbers of LGB service users, and the issues these service users are facing
• Provides the opportunity for service users to discuss issues relating to their sexual orientation, taking onue away from service users to have to initiate the conversation
• Can inform the service offered, such as additional signposting options
• Helps to build equality of access and opportunity at work