1. Transgender People’s Experiences Sharing Information With Clinicians: A Focus Group–Based Qualitative Study
- Author
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Alpert, Ash B, Mehringer, Jamie E, Orta, Sunshine J, Hernandez, Tresne, Redwood, Emile F, Rivers, Lexis, Manzano, Charlie, Ruddick, Roman, Adams, Spencer, Sevelius, Jae, Belanger, Emma, Operario, Don, and Griggs, Jennifer J
- Subjects
Health Services and Systems ,Health Sciences ,Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM/LGBT*) ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Clinical Research ,Health and social care services research ,8.1 Organisation and delivery of services ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adult ,Humans ,Male ,Female ,Transgender Persons ,Focus Groups ,Gender Identity ,Qualitative Research ,Sexual Behavior ,health communication ,qualitative research ,transgender persons ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Studies in Human Society ,General & Internal Medicine ,Biomedical and clinical sciences ,Health sciences ,Human society - Abstract
PurposeInvestigating transgender people's experiences sharing health information in clinical encounters may yield insights for family medicine clinicians.MethodsThis was a qualitative study using a community-based participatory research approach and interpretive description methodology. Seven qualitative focus groups were conducted with 30 transgender adults living in North America. We used purposive sampling to ensure diversity. The focus groups were transcribed verbatim, and 2 investigators independently reviewed and coded each transcript, then they mutually reviewed the transcripts, reconciled their coding, and summarized the codes into themes. Themes were reviewed with community members, participants, and uninvolved clinically oriented investigators for member checking and peer debriefing.ResultsFour themes were noted: (1) transgender people often perceive clinicians' questions as voyeuristic, stigmatizing, or self-protective; (2) patients describe being pathologized, denied or given substandard care, or harmed when clinicians learned they are transgender; (3) transgender people frequently choose between risking stigma when sharing information and risking ineffective clinical problem solving if clinicians do not have all the information about their medical histories; (4) improving the safety of transgender people is difficult in the context of contemporary medical systems.ConclusionsTransgender people often must choose between stigma and potentially suboptimal care. Improvements in medical culture, policies, procedures, and data collection tools are necessary to improve the quality and safety of clinical care for transgender people. Institutional and systems changes may be required to safely and effectively implement sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection in clinical settings.
- Published
- 2023