In 2018, we published our fact sheet, Transgender Health & Medical-Legal Partnerships. Though the approach to using medical-legal partnerships to meet the needs of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people remains a core tool for addressing the social determinants of health for this population, the legal and legislative landscape has changed drastically in recent years. In addition to navigating insurance coverage; medical decision-making; legal name and gender marker changes; and discrimination in education, employment, housing/shelter, and public accommodations; TGD people now face stepped-up efforts to restrict their access to health care more broadly, including denial of gender-affirming care, and restrictions on accessing public spaces and speech.
Search Results for: transgender
Integrated Behavioral Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People: An Affirming, Harm Reduction, and Trauma Responsive Approach
Integrated behavioral health care cannot eliminate all barriers and health inequities experienced by transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. It can, however, serve as a bridge to overall wellness, and can fulfill functions associated with primary care, and in doing so, can represent a low-barrier, harm reduction method of meeting patients’ needs. It can provide a setting to address mental health concerns that may arise from the process of negotiating one’s identity as a TGD person, being denied certain forms of health care, or navigating spaces where one’s value is diminished. Integrated behavioral health care can also help to facilitate the initiation and management of gender-affirming hormone therapy, thereby reducing the need for referrals to specialty providers, eliminating wait times, and enhancing patient and provider satisfaction.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
- Transgender Health
Article: Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health: An International Professional Development Conference on Affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
Increasing workforce capacity to provide knowledgeable, skilled, and affirming care for transgender and gender diverse people is critical to reduce health inequities; however, few clinicians receive sufficient training on this topic. This article describes Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health (AETH), an annual international conference that offers continuing professional development on evidence-based medical and behavioral healthcare for transgender and gender diverse people across the lifespan.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
Health Benefits and Considerations of Sports Participation and Physical Activity for Transgender and Gender Diverse People
This webinar will present the unique barriers to and benefits of physical activity and sports participation for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) persons. Presenters will discuss the legal, social, and medical barriers to engagement, including accessibility and safety. The webinar will highlight medical and mental health benefits specific to TGD persons, including with regard to osteopenia/osteoporosis, obesity, hypertension, minimization of gender dysphoria, and other mental health benefits. Participants will hear directly from a transgender athlete about their experience navigating sports participation and from a clinician on best practices for engaging TGD patients with compassionate informed support and connecting them to affirming sports-related resources.
- Filed under
- Diabetes and Heart Health
- Transgender Health
Gender-affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse People Experiencing Homelessness
This webinar will highlight unique challenges and best practices to improve gender-affirming care for TGD people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Presenters will provide an overview of the spectrum of housing instability, address screening considerations and data collection for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), and offer specific resources to support housing stability, gender affirmation, and other social emotional support services. The session will include a didactic component and case presentations.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
Article: Psychiatric Boarding of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth Awaiting Treatment
With increased prevalence and duration of pediatric mental health boarding that disparately impacts transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth, it is critical to consider disparities that TGD youth experience in accessing mental health care. Although mental health care for TGD youth has long been considered specialty care, frontline, primary medical, and mental health clinicians must be equipped to serve TGD patients’ psychiatric needs. Inequities that TGD youth face require examination and intervention at multiple levels, including societal discrimination, lack of culturally responsive primary mental health care, and barriers to gender-affirming care in emergency departments and psychiatric inpatient units.
Article: Age of Realization and Disclosure of Gender Identity Among Transgender Adults
The “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) hypothesis theorized, based on a parent report survey, a distinct and more transient form of gender dysphoria in which individuals purportedly come to understand themselves as transgender and/or gender diverse (TGD) suddenly during adolescence.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
Article: TransECHO: A National Tele-Education Program for Expanding Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Care
Few clinicians have received training to provide comprehensive primary care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. This article describes the program design and evaluation outcomes of TransECHO, a national professional development program for training primary care teams on the provision of affirming integrated medical and behavioral health care for TGD people. TransECHO is based on Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a tele-education model that aims to reduce health disparities and increase access to specialty care in underserved areas.
- Filed under
- Organizational Change
- Transgender Health
Article: Addressing the Physical and Mental Impacts of Postsurgical Scarring Among Transgender and Gender Diverse People
Few studies have considered the diverse mental and physical health impacts of scarring among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) patients after medically necessary gender-affirming surgery (GAS). For some TGD patients, post-GAS scarring may exacerbate gender dysphoria. For others, it is a physical representation of authenticity. The dearth of research or validated instruments capturing the diversity of priorities and concerns pre- and post-GAS hinders providers' ability to deliver optimal clinical care throughout the gender-affirmation process and impedes progress for evidence-based policy change regarding post-GAS scar treatment. This article provides suggestions for future research directions to address post-GAS scar-related health needs.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
