Ask Elise: Accessible and Accepting Healthcare

Ask Elise is an advice column meant for suggestions regarding LGBTQ+ community member dilemmas of any kind. If I am not qualified to answer your question (regarding issues for transgender individuals, people of color, etcetera), I will ask someone who is qualified and cite them. Your question is equally important and may help another community member. If you have a question, please submit it to [email protected] listing your pronouns and pseudonym if desired. If you need someone to talk to for more urgent or serious matters, please consider using the following hotlines:

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline: (888) 843-4564

Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860: Trans Lifeline is a trans-led organization that connects trans people to the community, support, and resources they need to survive and thrive.

Dear Elise,

I am a LGBTQ+ nurse who is aware of different challenges within the community regarding healthcare accessibility and fear of discrimination. Could you provide information for both healthcare providers and patients about how we can pursue optimal care for our community?

Sincerely,

Fabulous Nurse

Dear Fabulous Nurse,

As a medical student, I am so glad you asked this question. Since most of our readers are likely patients, I will start by discussing resources for patients seeking accessible and accepting healthcare and finish with information for providers.

Each year, the Human Rights Campaign publishes the Healthcare Equality Index, a national benchmarking tool that evaluates healthcare facilities’ policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and employees. On their website, which I will provide the link for below, there are a variety of patient resources including education on healthcare rights, what to do if facing discrimination, insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, finding healthcare providers, resources for autistic transgender patients, and more.

Regarding senior care, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) published the first validated survey on LGBTQ+ inclusion in long-term care and senior housing communities called the Long-Term Care Equality Index 2023.

Many people are unaware that Planned Parenthood provides annual wellbeing exams as well as gender affirming care. I recently took a course called Transgender Medicine for General Medical Providers via Coursera. I highly recommend it for healthcare professionals looking to learn more about the standard of quality care for transgender patients. Upon completion, one can add a certificate to their LinkedIn profile. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has a website on transgender patient services and support with resources for providers and hospital administrators that I will include below. The National LGBT Health Education Center and Fenway Institute offer a free training manual on best practices for healthcare workers and allied staff in the care of transgender and gender diverse individuals.

The National Center for Transgender Equality publishes a report called the National Transgender Discrimination Survey that provides information on the injustices transgender and gender non-conforming people face not only in healthcare, but in employment, schools, workplaces, and other contexts.

If you or a loved one are affected by HIV, there are exceptional and free prevention, STI testing, and other healthcare resources provided by the Aliveness Project in Minneapolis. They even have volunteer opportunities and engaging community events. The Aliveness Project has a food shelf and kitchen to support community members. Volunteers help members shop the food shelf and prepare meals from scratch. There are volunteer opportunities for packing harm reduction kits as well as office or administrative support.  The Aliveness Project has recently advertised their monkeypox vaccines as that has not yet been completely eradicated as a public health concern.

The Family Tree Clinic in Minneapolis provides sliding scale services such as telehealth, reproductive care, transgender medicine, HIV prevention, and community education. They provide information on legal help for queer and transgender individuals. In their community engagement, they host sessions called It’s That Easy to equip parents with practical tools to foster healthy conversations with children about sexuality and gender at appropriate developmental stages. They offer free books for children. The Family Tree Clinic also accepts volunteers.

Yours,

Elise

HRC patient resources: https://www.hrc.org/resources/patient-resources
HRC healthcare provider general 2SLGBTQ+ resources: https://www.hrc.org/resources/long-term-care-equality-index
Information on provision of exceptional transgender patient care for providers and administrators: https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/professional-resources/transgender-patient-services-support-resources-for-providers-and-hospital-administrators?_ga=2.207550995.1056130912.1712772181-1146766357.1712772181