Development of a Volunteer-Led Safe Zone Program at an Academic Health Center and Land-Grant University in the South

Objectives: Homophobic/transphobic environments on academic campuses put LGBT individuals at risk of violence and mental illness and may affect their performance, recruitment, and retention. While Safe Zone Programs (SZP) are not uncommon on undergraduate campuses, we describe lessons learned implementing a SZP engaging faculty, staff, clinicians, and students at an Academic Health Center (AHC) in the South.

Methods: Through an interprofessional partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and members of the LGBT community, we jointly designed, piloted, and evaluated our SZP. An MPH student prepared materials, organized logistics, co-presented, and evaluated the pilot. The training emphasizes participant interaction, storytelling, and LGBT panels, with content focused on terminology, the spectrum, privilege, and how to be an ally.

Results: Pilot participants placed high value on personal stories from LGBT community members and wanted more detail on how to be an ally. Participant feedback was used to modify training format. LGBT participants have subsequently been engaged to serve as trainers or panelists in training sessions. Challenges included defining eligibility for Safe Zone membership because of questions from participants struggling to reconcile their religious beliefs with training content; increasing training participation at UAMS; and, assuring sustainability of this volunteer-led program.

Conclusions: Trainers in this program are highly committed to changing the culture of their institutions. LGBT AHC and university students and employees need a safe environment in which to study and work, and AHC purpose-designed SZPs can address this need.