The Fenway Institute's Dr. Jennifer Potter and Dr. Alex Keuroghlian appeared on the most recent episode of Fenway Health's Pride In Our Health podcast to discuss Transgender and Gender Diverse Health Care: The Fenway Guide, the first case-based textbook to address the comprehensive health care needs of transgender and gender diverse adults. You can find out more and listen to the podcast (~26m) here.
New Study Finds That Health Care Providers And Transgender Patients In The Rural Northeast Believe Systems-Level Changes In Health Care Settings Are Needed To Improve Quality Of Care
A study published this month in PLOS ONE examined the perspectives of health care staff about their experiences working with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) patients and the perspectives of TGD community members about their access to and experiences of health care. Findings from the study underscore the need to address the priorities of both TGD patients and providers when devising strategies to improve the quality of care. Authored by researchers at The Fenway Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School), Boston University School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, , and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “Understanding community member and health care professional perspectives on gender-affirming care—A qualitative study” adds new knowledge to the growing body of research on barriers to gender-affirming health care by focusing on the experiences of health care staff and TGD community members who live and work in rural areas.
- Filed under
- Organizational Change
- Transgender Health
2021 Transgender Health Conference
Registration is now open for the 7th Annual Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health Conference. Click through to learn more and register today!
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
2021 Trans Health Conference Registration is Open
Join us for the 7th annual Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health Conference!
This years' conference will take place virtually October 1st-3rd, 2021.
Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health was developed in response to the high volume of queries from clinicians and health care staff seeking to learn about providing high-quality care for adults, adolescents, and children who are questioning their gender identity or who identify as transgender or gender-diverse (TGD).
This conference is designed to train the whole health care team in providing responsive and confident gender-affirmative health care, grounded in research evidence and best clinical practices. Sessions are led by expert faculty specialized in TGD focused research and patient care. The conference is appropriate for all members of health care teams, including physicians, behavioral health care providers, physician assistants, nurses, and other staff. Sessions are led by expert faculty specialized in transgender-focused research and patient care. The conference is appropriate for all members of health care teams, including physicians, behavioral health care providers, physician assistants, nurses, and other staff.
In addition to didactic presentations, attendees will learn from lived experience panels and have the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions that highlight medical and behavioral health approaches to gender-affirmative care, led by experienced clinicians specialized in transgender health.
This year an optional pre-conference day will be provided for all attendees interested in additional introductory education regarding care for transgender and gender diverse people. There is no additional fee to attend but pre-registration is required.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
In the News: Gender-affirming surgery linked to better mental health
Transgender people who have access to gender-affirming surgery report better mental health outcomes, according to a new study. The report, published Wednesday in JAMA Surgery, compared the psychological distress levels, suicide risk and substance use in transgender and gender diverse people who had undergone gender-affirming surgery with those who wanted such procedures but had not yet had them. “This study adds to a growing body of evidence showing affirmation in all forms can be life-saving for trans and gender-diverse people,” said lead author Anthony Almazan, a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. “Policies that limit access to care can put lives at risk. Our evidence shows we should be expanding gender-affirming care, not limiting it.” You can read the NBC story here.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
- Transgender Health
Applications open for 2021 TransECHO now!
All Federally Qualified Health Centers and FQHC look-alikes are invited to apply for the Spring 2021 cohort TransECHO program. TransECHO uses the ECHO case-based learning model to engage health systems in collaborating to improve health care for transgender and gender-diverse patients. Each monthly session includes a didactic presentation and case studies presented for group consultation.
TransECHO is a free program and CME credits are available.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
New Journal Article: Screening, Counseling, and Shared Decision Making for Alcohol Use with Transgender and Gender-Diverse Populations
“Screening, Counseling, and Shared Decision Making for Alcohol Use with Transgender and Gender-Diverse Populations” was recently published in the journal LGBT Health. Authored by Director of Education and Training Programs, Dr. Alex S. Keuroghlian and Jacob Arellano-Anderson, this article discusses how current alcohol screening tools and guidelines do not distinguish between sex- and gender-related characteristics.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
Paper calls for new psychiatric practices that affirm transgender and gender-diverse patients without pathologizing diagnoses
An editorial published in The British Journal of Psychiatry calls for the development of alternative psychiatric care frameworks that affirm transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people without pathologizing them through clinical diagnoses. The editorial was authored by researchers at The Fenway Institute and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and adds to a growing body of literature demonstrating the need to uncouple gender diversity from the stigma of diagnostic classification.
- Filed under
- Behavioral Health
- Transgender Health
Registration Open for 2020 Transgender Health Conference
Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health was developed in response to the high volume of queries from clinicians and health care staff seeking to learn about providing high-quality care for adults, adolescents, and children who are questioning their gender identity or who identify as transgender or gender-diverse.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
New article in LGBT Health
A Call for Gender Identity Data Collection in iPLEDGE and Increasing the Number of Isotretinoin Prescribers Among Transgender Health Providers, authored by Sean Singer and Alex Keuroghlian, MD, MPH, highlights that incorporating gender identity based questions in iPLEDGE registration documents would increase information about gender-diverse patients taking isotretinoin, the most effective medication for severe recalcitrant acne, and allow better understanding of teratogenicity risks among these patients. An increase in the number of transgender health providers registered as isotretinoin prescribers in iPLEDGE would increase access to this effective medicine and may improve outcomes in trans-masculine people with severe acne.
- Filed under
- Transgender Health
