LGBTQIA+ health – Why inclusive and equitable healthcare is important for everyone

  Host: Dr Emre Ilhan

  Thursday 14 August 2025, 12pm – 1.30pm 

  Room 186, 18 Wally’s Walk, Macquarie University

Overview

The right to health and wellbeing is a basic human right; however, not all individuals have equal access to the resources necessary to enable optimal health. Globally, the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, intersex, asexual people and people with other diverse genders and sexualities fares worse on physical, mental, and social measures compared to people who are heterosexual and cisgender (individuals whose gender aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth). Furthermore, the health and wellbeing fares even worse in individuals with multiple marginalised social identities. 

Using a narrative approach, this talk will attempt to locate and address sources of inequity to help health professionals find ways to imagine a future of healthcare for all otherwise.

Biography

Dr Emre Ilhan is a physiotherapist and lecturer whose research focusses on pain, particularly pain in in vulnerable groups (e.g., neonates and infants) and marginalised groups (e.g., LGBTQIA+ communities).

Emre’s research draws upon critical theory (intersectionality) to identify and address ways in which marginalisation and privilege (re)produces health inequities and injustice through intersecting systems of oppression. Emre actively engages in these approaches to inform research and teaching in:

1. Neonatal, infant, and paediatric pain.
2. Pain in LGBTQIASB+, older adults in residential aged care, disability, culturally and racially marginalised groups, and other marginalised groups.3. Queer(y)ing physiotherapy, research, health care, and education. 
3. Evidence-based health care and shared decision-making.
4. Paediatric (cerebral palsy) and adult neurological rehabilitation.

Contact Us

For more details about the series, contact us at fmhhs.executive.dean@mq.edu.au.