While the future of healthcare is moving toward system-wide awareness and inclusive care. There are many things you can do on a personal level to increase your own LGBTQIA + sensitivity while providing care.
How to target the LGBTQ population? Are there parameters?
Here are four ways that Iroku-Malize (Northwell Health president of family medicine, serves many patients in the LGBTQIA community) suggests that clinicians can make it clear that LBGTQIA patients will be treated with the same respect and discharge care. quality that any other patient receives.
Questions to ask
It starts with two fundamental questions you can ask on the intake forms:
What is your current gender identity? Check all that apply:
Male
Woman
Woman to man (FTM) / transgender man / trans man
Male to female (MTF) / transgender woman / trans woman
Genderqueer, neither exclusively male nor female
Additional gender category / (or other), please specify
Refuse to answer, explain why
What sex were you assigned at birth on your original birth certificate? Check one:
Male
Woman
Refuse to answer, explain why
The next step:
You will have to carry out basic preventive exams according to the sex assigned at birth. This means that a person who was assigned the male gender at birth and who now identifies as a transgender woman still needs to have their prostate health checked. Similarly, a person who was assigned the female gender at birth and who now identifies as a transgender man will need to have a Pap test.
Other physical exams and tests may be required depending on whether or not the person has undergone surgery as part of their transition, and the stage of the surgery.
Address the patient
“The most important thing that healthcare providers don’t know is what to call these patients,” says Iroque-Malize. Ask the patient which pronoun they prefer, he / she / they / ze or some other pronoun. (“Ze” is one of several relatively new pronouns.
It is preferred by some transgender people and by some people who consider themselves neither male nor female and therefore consider “him” and “she” to be inappropriate and hurtful.
Use the patient’s preferred pronoun consistently, and make sure other staff members do as well. Put a large note on the patient’s chart so that everyone who cares about that person can see it and know how to address them.
In a language-related issue, if you need to do an exam that involves the genitals, ask the patient how they refer to those areas of their body. In that type of situation, if a cervical exam is needed, do it slowly and be cautious.
Own your limitations
Be self-aware enough to recognize if your own discomfort or disapproval disqualifies you from caring for a gender-mismatched patient. If so, you have to be prepared to refer those patients to doctors who will receive them and take good care of them. If there is no one in your area who seems appropriate, you may need to learn about good telemedicine options.
Be cozy
Lastly, make sure your staff understand the basics of queer patient care. “Anyone working in primary care must be culturally sensitive to the gender identities of the patients who are admitted,” says Iroku-Malize. Training resources are available. For example, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation offers resources to healthcare providers. Be curious and willing to keep learning.
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