LGBT Healthcare Training Video: "To Treat Me, You Have to Know Who I Am"
Summary
TLDRThe transcript highlights the importance of understanding a patient's identity for effective healthcare. It emphasizes the need for medical professionals to be aware of and respect a patient's sexual orientation and gender identity to provide appropriate care. The speaker shares personal experiences of discrimination and lack of understanding in the healthcare system, advocating for open communication and empathy to ensure the well-being of LGBT patients.
Takeaways
- 🌈 The importance of healthcare providers knowing a patient's sexual orientation and gender identity for appropriate care.
- 🏥 The necessity for an open and honest relationship between patient and provider for optimal medical care.
- 🤝 The significance of treating patients with respect regardless of their sexual scenario or gender identity.
- 📋 The potential for missed routine testing or screening if patients do not feel comfortable disclosing their identity.
- 🙅♀️ Personal experiences of discrimination and lack of understanding from healthcare providers based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- 👨👩👧👦 The impact of healthcare providers' assumptions on the patient's family structure and relationships.
- 🚫 The negative experiences and trauma caused by healthcare providers' refusal to acknowledge or respect a patient's identity.
- 💬 The need for healthcare providers to ask questions in an open, thoughtful, and caring manner to encourage patient disclosure.
- 🌟 The positive impact of empathetic and understanding healthcare providers on patient care and experience.
- 🔄 The challenges faced by transgender patients, including misgendering and lack of provider training.
- 🌍 The call for the healthcare system to accept and treat LGBT patients as equals, recognizing their unique needs and identities.
Q & A
Why is it important for healthcare providers to know a patient's sexual orientation and gender identity?
-It's important because knowing a patient's sexual orientation and gender identity helps healthcare providers to care appropriately for the patient, ensuring that they receive the right medical care and screenings tailored to their specific needs.
What impact does a lack of understanding or respect for a patient's identity have on their healthcare experience?
-A lack of understanding or respect for a patient's identity can lead to feelings of discomfort and invalidation, potentially causing the patient to withhold important information or avoid seeking necessary medical care.
How can healthcare providers foster an open and honest relationship with their patients?
-Healthcare providers can foster an open and honest relationship by asking questions in an open, thoughtful, and caring way, avoiding assumptions based on the patient's sexual orientation or gender identity, and being receptive to learning about the patient's needs.
What was the speaker's experience when they were diagnosed with anal cancer?
-The speaker was treated with respect by all healthcare professionals involved in their care, which they believe is crucial for understanding their condition and providing the best possible treatment.
How did the speaker's experience differ when they were a teenager and disclosed their sexual orientation to a doctor?
-The doctor's attitude changed drastically, becoming harsh and dismissive, which left a lasting negative impression on the speaker and highlighted the importance of healthcare providers maintaining a respectful and non-judgmental approach.
What challenges did the speaker face when interacting with the healthcare system as a lesbian?
-The speaker often faced assumptions of heterosexuality, which led to inappropriate questions about birth control and a lack of recognition of their marital status, causing feelings of alienation and misrepresentation.
Why is it necessary for healthcare providers to ask about a patient's significant relationships and not make assumptions about their desires or family situation?
-It's necessary to avoid making assumptions because every patient's situation is unique, and assumptions can lead to important discussions or screenings being overlooked, affecting the quality of care provided.
Can you describe a situation where the speaker's family faced discrimination in a healthcare setting?
-During a family vacation, the speaker's daughter became sick and had to visit the emergency room. The hospital staff refused to acknowledge the speaker's family structure, causing distress and trauma for both the daughter and the speaker.
How did the speaker's healthcare experience differ when they were pregnant and identified as genderqueer?
-The speaker felt that their healthcare providers did not respect or respond to their gender identity and preferred pronouns, leading to a sense of being misunderstood and not genuinely listened to.
What was the speaker's experience when they were diagnosed with breast cancer as a transgender man?
-The speaker faced discrimination from their breast surgeon, who had problems with the speaker's transgender status and initially referred them to psychiatry instead of treating them for cancer.
What is the speaker's hope for LGBT patients in the healthcare system?
-The speaker hopes that LGBT patients will be accepted for who they are, that their chosen families will be included in the healing process, and that the healthcare system will provide the same quality of care as it does for non-LGBT individuals.
Outlines
🏥 Importance of Recognizing Patient Identity in Healthcare
The speaker emphasizes the critical role of understanding a patient's identity, including sexual orientation and gender identity, in providing quality healthcare. They recount personal experiences as a gay man diagnosed with anal cancer and the importance of being treated with respect by healthcare professionals. The speaker also discusses the need for open communication and the potential for missed care due to lack of disclosure. They recount a negative experience at a doctor's office as a teenager and the challenges faced in healthcare settings due to assumptions about their identity. The speaker advocates for healthcare providers to ask open and thoughtful questions to create a safe environment for patients.
🌈 Discrimination and the Need for Inclusive Healthcare Practices
This paragraph delves into the challenges faced by LGBT individuals within the healthcare system, including instances of discrimination and lack of understanding from healthcare providers. The speaker shares personal stories of being denied access to a partner in the hospital and the impact of healthcare professionals' assumptions on the quality of care received. They discuss the importance of empathizing with patients and being open to learning about their identities and needs. The speaker also talks about their own transition and the difficulties faced in being acknowledged and treated appropriately as a transgender man with breast cancer. The paragraph concludes with a call for healthcare providers to accept and include LGBT patients and their families in the healing process.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Sexual Orientation
💡Gender Identity
💡Respect
💡Discrimination
💡Empathy
💡Inclusive Language
💡Healthcare Experience
💡Patient-Provider Relationship
💡Cultural Competence
💡LGBTQ+ Healthcare
Highlights
Importance of knowing a patient's identity for proper medical care
Need for open and honest relationship with patients, especially regarding sexual orientation and gender identity
Challenges faced by LGBT patients in healthcare due to lack of understanding and respect from providers
Experience of being misgendered and not having family recognized in healthcare settings
Impact of healthcare providers' assumptions on LGBT patients' willingness to disclose personal information
Importance of asking open-ended questions to create a safe space for LGBT patients to discuss their health
Need for healthcare providers to be educated on LGBT health issues and to avoid making assumptions
Experience of a transgender man facing discrimination and lack of understanding from healthcare providers
Challenges of navigating healthcare system as a genderqueer individual
Impact of healthcare providers' lack of responsiveness to patients' preferred pronouns and identities
Experience of a lesbian patient facing discrimination and discomfort from healthcare providers
Need for healthcare providers to recognize and respect the families chosen by LGBT patients
Importance of treating LGBT patients with the same level of respect and care as non-LGBT patients
Experience of a transgender patient facing discrimination and lack of understanding from a breast surgeon
Challenges faced by healthcare providers in understanding and treating transgender patients
Need for healthcare providers to empathize with and care for LGBT patients as individuals
Hope for LGBT patients to be accepted and treated with respect in the healthcare system
Transcripts
to treat me you have to know who I am
I identify as Latino lesbian mother to
treat me you have to know who I am I
identify as a transgender man to treat
me you have to know who I am I identify
as a gay man I was diagnosed with anal
cancer and what I'm dealing with
something medical it's extremely
important that they know who I am every
doctor I've been to and there were seven
all of the nurses all of the assistants
everyone treated me with respect it is
as important to know somebody's sexual
orientation but even more than that what
their sexual scenario is as it is to
know if they're getting a good night's
sleep or if they have a good appetite or
if their bowel movements are normal it's
all part of basic bodily functions that
are required for a maximum quality of
life
it's important to have an open and
honest relationship with your patient
and so if you do not know what their
sexual orientation is or how they
identify that patient is not going to
feel safe telling you everything that
they need to tell you for their proper
medical care but knowing a patient's
gender identity and sexual orientation
helps a practitioner to care
appropriately for that patient we see a
lot of patients come in who may not be
comfortable disclosing that information
and routine testing or screening may be
missed for that patient
when I was about 15 years old I remember
going to the doctor's office and my
doctor was very warm and very welcoming
she was asking all the questions that
she's supposed to ask to an adolescent
and I remember telling her when she
asked about my sexual activity if um you
know if I use condoms or anything like
that and I said no I'm I'm gay and I
just remember her face changed very much
and hurt her warm tone a voice turned
very harsh and it seemed as though she
was rushing me out as quickly as
possible as a lesbian
unfortunately when I've been involved
with the health care system it's usually
hasn't been very welcoming it's usually
assumed that I'm heterosexual and so the
questions go along that line asking me
about the need for birth control and
then I fill out forms that asked me if
I'm married single divorced or widowed
and none of those boxes apply to me
I think it's very important to know that
what people write on forums does not
represent necessarily their reality and
it does not take the place of a provider
opening the door to ask questions and
you need to ask those questions in an
open and thoughtful and caring way many
times the patient a client want to talk
about their sexual health but fear that
they would be discriminated against or
stigmatized there are a lot of ways that
a provider could ask me questions that
would make it more likely for me to
disclose the fact that I'm gay than not
so I'd rather them ask me if I am in a
significant relationship if I have a
partner and then I'd like them when they
talk about other issues to not make an
assumption that because I'm gay I don't
want to talk about having kids or that I
don't want to talk about relationship
issues
My partner and I and our children were
on a family vacation and my older
daughter became sick she got stomach
pains and we had to go to the local
emergency room and we get to the
hospital and they asked who was my
daughter's parents and I said well she
has two moms and they were like well she
can't have two moms only one of you can
go in my daughter was traumatized by
that we were traumatized by that it's
not about sensitivity it's about respect
is about humanitarian response to a
human being in general but my partner
was hospitalized recently a very severe
aortic aneurysm when he was being moved
from intensive care to a hospital bed
the nurse in charge would not let me
accompany him I asked if I would have
been allowed to accompany him if I were
part of his family and she looked the
other way what needs to happen when a
patient is admitted to a hospital is
that the care providers
think about the fact that the patient
might have different sexual orientation
or different gender identity than the
care provider
throughout my pregnancy I was very much
genderqueer and I did tell them about my
pronouns which ones I preferred that I
preferred gender neutral or masculine
pronouns but the people who were dealing
with me throughout my pregnancy
primarily my midwife and the nurses
associated with them were not responsive
to my identity and didn't actually
respect it certainly I felt that my
healthcare has been impacted I feel less
genuinely listened to and I feel like
there's a huge discrepancy between the
care I get versus other people who have
gone to the same provider and report a
very different experience you need to
empathize with the patient you're
talking to give them an understanding
that you care to understand who they are
that's all you need to do you don't have
to use the right words just be open to
being educated on what right words to
use and care
I just transitioned about four years ago
to start living as a man when I was
diagnosed with breast cancer
I found that my breast surgeon was
unable to call me even to give me my
biopsy results he did tell me very
frankly and overtly that he had problems
with my transgender status and upon
meeting me and learning of my
transgender status he decided that his
first impulse was to refer me to
psychiatry I used to work at it this
Health Center that did a lot of care for
transgender patients and there was a lot
of discrimination towards those patients
there was a discomfort in talking to
them I am myself had some discomfort
because I didn't have much training on
how to work with transgender
the other day a patient came into the
office and his insurance cards
identified him as Adam although he
signed the register as Emily after being
called multiple times by his birth name
he left the office I do think the LGBT
community has special needs
I think the LGBT community has a
specific special need which is to be
treated the way non-lgbt people have
been treated for ever which is to be
asked about their sexuality to be asked
about their quality of life what their
home situation is what their work
situation is what their friend situation
is without the person asking the
questions being afraid of what the
answers might be recognizing the
differences of human beings and being
able to address the issues and not using
one ruler to measure someone else's
existence or purpose in life my greatest
hope for LGBT patients in the healthcare
system is that when they go for
treatment whoever they're going to see
accepts them for who they are then
having the people that we choose to be
our families be accepted to have them be
a part of the healing process and the
healthcare system can take care of us
just like anybody else so that we can
keep ourselves well and get the
information that we need to treat me you
have to know who I am I identify as a
lesbian to treat me you have to know who
I am I identify as a genderqueer
biracial Latino parents to treat me you
have to know who I am and I identify as
lesbian
our lives depend
on your capacity to care
you
Parcourir plus de vidéos associées
Walking Through the World Non-Binary | Jesse Lueck | TEDxRanneySchool
Know what a Medical Virtual Assistant from the Global Medical VA’s Managing Director, George Cortes
3 Important Skills of a Global Medical Virtual Assistant
CULTURAL COMPETENCE & DIVERSITY in HEALTHCARE
The Ineffective Physician: Non-Motivational Approach
Taking Health Care to the Streets | Dr. Cheryl Whitaker | TEDxNashvilleSalon
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)