Important new transgender initiative wins award

14 Apr 2022

While St Vincent’s has a long history of supporting and working with sexuality and gender diverse populations, opportunities for learning and improvement are not only welcome, but encouraged.

When Caitlin, a transgender woman presented to St Vincent’s for treatment, she was confronted with a lack of understanding around her specific needs that left her feeling uncomfortable.

“My concerns came about through a well-intentioned but not necessarily well-informed understanding of conversing with a transgender person. I was left feeling uncomfortable, disappointed and reminded of the negative experiences of other community members in similar settings”. Caitlin recalled.

Following a formal complaint process to address her concerns, a newly formed strategy for responding to feedback from the LGBTQ+ community was implemented for the first time, with positive results.

This new model of responding to feedback with experts from across the hospital, including experts in sexuality and gender diversity community engagement provided an opportunity to confidently work with the community and in this case, Caitlin herself.

“Many transgender and gender diverse people have actually had pretty bad experiences with health care services, so it’s really important for the health care system to learn from these experiences and adapt to better meet the needs of transgender people”, Caitlin explained.

A recent study by NSW Health revealed that just 50% of transgender and gender diverse people in NSW rate their health as ‘good’ or better. Furthermore, across Australia just over 40% of transgender and gender diverse people avoided attending an emergency department due to fear of stigma or discrimination.

Consequently, use of incorrect names, misgendering, and lack of knowledge among health professionals about the health needs of transgender and gender diverse people can be a real deterrent for people in seeking health care when they need it, leading to poorer health outcomes.
‘It was great working with the team at St Vincent’s because it was a consultative process right from the start. The team first sought to understand what we needed to address in the training, and then jointly we came up with ideas as to how we could execute it, it was a really empathic and understanding process”, Caitlin said.

Through this collaboration, the co-designed Trans and Gender Diverse Healthcare Training, a Trans and Gender Diverse Healthcare Factsheet and a set of Principles for Working with Trans and Gender Diverse patients has been successfully implemented within several key departments, with further roll-out expected throughout 2022.

We know that staff who feel comfortable and empowered to ask questions, work within cultural expectations and feel confident improving their own practice, and the settings in which the practice is undertaken, are more likely to provide culturally safe care, and to understand that each transgender and gender diverse patient is unique”, said Brandon Bear, St Vincent’s Inclusive Health Manager and project lead.

Not only have these resources and training been well-received by staff, the project has gone on to win the inaugural Pride in Health and Wellbeing, Innovation in Inclusion Award.

Congratulations to all involved.

For more information about these training and resources, please contact BrandonBear@svhs.org.au

Winner Tile