Kelli Dunham calls for LGBT Culturally Competent Care on NPR Blog!

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Peggy L Chinn

“Health News from NPR” just posted an excellent article by nurse Kelli Dunham focused on health disparities in the LGBT community that are aided and abetted by inadequate Kelli-Dunham-at-FF-October-2013-300x300care for LGBT people and their families.  She points to the recent American Association of Medical College’s report titled “Implementing Curricular and Institutional Climate Changes to Improve Health Care for Individuals Who Are LGBT, Gender Nonconforming, or Born with DSD: A Resource for Medical Educators” as a major step in guiding health care professions to prepare providers who are culturally competent to provide quality care for LGBT folks.

As Kelli points out, the challenges to providing universally competent care for all people are huge, but just a few very simple changes can be implemented now, including fundamental acceptance of each person as a person  and acceptance of each patient’s significant other, regardless of who that person is.  Kelli brings her wonderful comedic talent to addressing this very important, and sensitive issue in health care –

There is no such thing as a lesbian knee, or a lesbian armpit or a lesbian neck — at least I’ve never dated one — but each human being comes to health care with a context and a story, and they both are vitally important.

Congratulations, Kelli on your excellent report, and thank you for getting this message out on a major news outlet!!
Posted in Activism, Best practices, Education, Humor, LGBT Health, LGBT Services, LGBTQ rights | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Thomas Lawrence Long

In the hopes that this memorial will one day become unnecessary, we mark Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20) with attention to health issues.

The 2011 Institute of Medicine report The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding provided alarming but not entirely surprising information about health disparities among sexual minority people, including transgender people.

Among its more salient findings:

  • Some research suggests that young transgender women are at significant risk for homelessness.
  • Research based on smaller convenience samples suggests that elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempts as well as depression exist among transgender adults; however, little research has examined the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in this population.
  • Limited research among transgender adults indicates that substance use is a concern for this population.
  • Limited research suggests that transgender elders may experience negative health outcomes as a result of long-term hormone use.

These data are significant and persuasive. The human dimensions, however, may be more powerfully represented in the documentary Transgender Tuesdays: A Clinic in the Tenderloin.

Transgender lives are more than statistics.

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Medical-Colleges Group Releases Standards for Treating LGBT Patients

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Thomas Lawrence Long

Announced today by the Chronicle of Higher Education:

The Association of American Medical Colleges has released a set of guidelines aimed at helping medical schools better train physicians to treat people who are LGBT, don’t identify with a gender, or are born with differences of sex development. The guidelines, contained in a report, are the first comprehensive set of standards for treating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients, according to a news release from the organization.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/medical-colleges-group-releases-standards-for-treating-lgbt-patients/89835

The AAMC report can be downloaded here: http://offers.aamc.org/lgbt-dsd-health

Posted in LGBT Health | 1 Comment

November 20th – International Transgender Day of Remembrance

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Peggy L Chinn

Ceremonies are being held worldwide during the month of November to memorialize those who have been killed as a result of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.  The Transgender Day of Remembrance web site provides a list of events that will be occuring throughout the month, many on November 20th.  They also publish a list of all who have been killed throughout the previous year; this list consists of deaths that were corroborated by media accounts.

This is a senseless and horrifying tragedy.  Please join us in pausing for a moment of reflection to remember those who have perished, and to focus our energies on all the ways we can work together to end the violence.  Statistics_and_other_info____Transgender_Day_of_Remembrance

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What are you working on?

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Mickey

We’ve been blogging about a number of topics in the past year or so, all very interesting, but not terribly interactive. I’d like to start a discussion of the types of research on LGBTQ issues that our followers are up to. We’ve heard that nursing journal editors are eager to publish LGBTQ-themed articles, so we need to be submitting quality work to them to educate our colleagues. So here are some questions to chew on:

  • What are you interested in?
    What challenges are you having to doing your project?
    Have you experienced any resistance from faculty colleagues or professors?
    What methodological challenges are you experiencing in developing instruments, recruiting, analyzing data?
    Do you need a co-author to help you get over the hump?
    Are you wondering where to publish?
    And anything else that keeps you awake at night…

So weigh in and let’s talk!  If you have not already joined the GLMA Nursing Section’s Research Group, that is another forum for discussing research and finding collaborators.

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