Question

Compose a reflection on care of trans and gender patient.

Answer 1

Transgender Definitions

Transsexual—an individual who strongly identifies with the other sex and seeks hormones or gender-affirmation surgery or both to feminize or masculinize the body; may live full-time in the crossgender role.

CARE OF TRANSGENDER PATIENT

Sex is assigned at birth based on a person’s external genitalia, usually as a binary term of male or female. Gender identity is a person’s sense of self as either male, female, or an alternative gender (e.g., boygirl, girlboy, transgender, genderqueer, eunuch) .

It is not uncommon for transgender patients to avoid sharing information about their identity and medical history with health care professionals, due to past negative experiences within health care settings.

Professionals who show sensitivity to the topic and express care about health record documentation can increase a transgender patient’s trust. There are many opportunities to increase transgender health literacy, including consultation, conferences, webinars, books, and articles focused on transgender health care.

It’s critical for professionals to listen closely to individual patients’ stated needs. This article shares one transgender patient’s encounters and experiences within health care settings and offers lessons on how health care professionals can be more inclusive, respectful, and responsive to the needs of transgender patients.

HOW TO TREAT A TRANSGENDER PATIENT ?

1. Treat transgender individuals with respect, as you would for all of your patients.

2. Refer to transgender people by the name and pronoun associated with their gender identity.

3. Ask politely how they wish to be addressed if you are unsure about a person's gender identity.

4. Never reveal a person's transgender status, unless it is absolutely necessary for the patient's health care.

5. Set a high standard for inclusive care.

6. Concentrate on care, not curiosity. Example: it is inappropriate to ask about genital status if it is unrelated to care.

7. Avoid negative facial reactions and offensive language.

8. Remember that treating a transgender patient is not always a training opportunity.

9. Educate yourself and others about transgender health care and issues.

Provide transgender sensitive healthcare referrals. Include gender identity and expression in all nondiscrimination policies. Create gender neutral bathrooms, if possible; if not possible, create a policy that transgender patients can use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

Transgender persons are a diverse group whose gender identity differs from their sex recorded at birth. Some choose to undergo medical treatment to align their physical appearance with their gender identity.

It's important for medical professionals to understand that one's gender identity as man, woman or trans is different from one's sexual identity as gay, bisexual, lesbian or heterosexual.

Gender identity and sexual identity are two separate domains, say experts who are trying to better prepare health care providers to treat trans patients.

"Discrimination in health care settings can be very common for trans individuals, and some even report outright abuse," said Cathy Reback, a research sociologist with the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs and a senior research scientist with Friends Research Institute, Inc.

Health care professionals also heard from experts about the health disparities often found within transgender communities across the nation and about best practices for working with trans clients and patients.

"Transgender individuals are often misunderstood by health care providers in the same ways they are misunderstood by everyone else," said AJ King, associate director of the Southern California HIV Policy Research Center at UCLA.

Most often, health care providers rely on information from a transgender patient's electronic medical record, they said. If the patient has not legally changed his or her name and/or had gender confirmation surgery (previously known as sex reassignment surgery)