Project Recognize, which includes partners at InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), UNC Chapel Hill, Lurie Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and Northwestern Medicine, aims to develop and test new methods of data collection which are responsive and expansive enough to collect SSOGI information more accurately in population surveys, healthcare research, and clinical and community contexts, ultimately providing a stronger foundation of high-quality data from which we can act to improve sexual and gender minority (SGM) health. ISGMH faculty members Patrick Janulis, Ph.D., and Kathryn Macapagal, Ph.D., are co-investigators on Project Recognize and will help to lead the project’s psychometric evaluation and qualitative data capture activities, respectively.

The project has three main aims:

1.Synthesize and summarize how SSOGI measures have been assessed in health research and practice.

2.Iteratively develop culturally responsive and comprehensive assessments of SSOGI measures through qualitative methods.

Assess the acceptability and effectiveness of new SSOGI measures.

To achieve these, the team will first conduct a large-scale assessment of current methods for collecting SSOGI data, then develop a novel system utilizing feedback through focus groups, interviews, and various other means of input. Final analyses will determine the new methods’ effectiveness across a wide range of settings and for a wide range of individuals, with special emphasis placed on historically understudied populations. In order to ensure that the project’s findings and deliverables have a meaningful impact, the team will also be dedicating effort in the final year of the project to advocacy surrounding changes in policy and practice which will help to ensure broader uptake of newer, more responsive, and better quality SSOGI measures.