Other Titles
Experiences of Transgender Individuals in Healthcare: The State of the Science Towards Establishing an Affirming Model of Care [Poster Title]
Other Titles
Rising Star Poster/Presentation
Abstract
Issue: In recognition of the health disparities among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population, health authorities have called for increased knowledge and research. Evidence shows that transgender individuals often face the most severe forms of discrimination and health disparities. Given this, establishing an affirming care model is crucial for guiding both research and practice. The purpose of the literature review is to provide insight into the current state of knowledge on the experiences of transgender communities in healthcare to contextualize the need for an affirming framework.
Description: Relevant peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from Ovid MEDLINE(R), OVID Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science within the last 10-15 years using key search terms.
Results: Sixty studies were imported for screening. After screening, 10 studies were included - 8 qualitative, 1 cross sectional secondary analysis, and 1 mixed methods study. The themes that emerged from the literature were barriers to accessing healthcare including discrimination and stigma and lack of medical provider knowledge, mental health impacts, and positive experiences towards best practices.
Conclusions and Recommendations: This review sought to provide a more in-depth understanding of the challenge’s transgender communities face within health care and potential affirming models of care. The findings highlight the need for additional research on interventions, such as a trauma informed framework, to reduce health disparities. Future research directions are to conduct a secondary analysis with systematic coding of qualitative data from patient and medical provider interviews at a community-based transgender clinic.
Notes
Reference list included in attached document file.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Phi, Delta Mu
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Literature Review
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Transgender Healthcare, Transgender Experiences, LGBTQIA+, Health Disparities, Health Equity, Cultural Context and Care, Stigma, Discrimination
Recommended Citation
Levitt, Nathan, "Experiences of Transgender Individuals in Healthcare: Towards Establishing an Affirming Model of Care" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 105.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/posters_2025/105
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Invited Presentation
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-16
Experiences of Transgender Individuals in Healthcare: Towards Establishing an Affirming Model of Care
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Issue: In recognition of the health disparities among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population, health authorities have called for increased knowledge and research. Evidence shows that transgender individuals often face the most severe forms of discrimination and health disparities. Given this, establishing an affirming care model is crucial for guiding both research and practice. The purpose of the literature review is to provide insight into the current state of knowledge on the experiences of transgender communities in healthcare to contextualize the need for an affirming framework.
Description: Relevant peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from Ovid MEDLINE(R), OVID Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science within the last 10-15 years using key search terms.
Results: Sixty studies were imported for screening. After screening, 10 studies were included - 8 qualitative, 1 cross sectional secondary analysis, and 1 mixed methods study. The themes that emerged from the literature were barriers to accessing healthcare including discrimination and stigma and lack of medical provider knowledge, mental health impacts, and positive experiences towards best practices.
Conclusions and Recommendations: This review sought to provide a more in-depth understanding of the challenge’s transgender communities face within health care and potential affirming models of care. The findings highlight the need for additional research on interventions, such as a trauma informed framework, to reduce health disparities. Future research directions are to conduct a secondary analysis with systematic coding of qualitative data from patient and medical provider interviews at a community-based transgender clinic.
Description
Transgender people experience discrimination and stigmatization that leads to health disparities. The purpose of the literature review is to provide insight into the current state of knowledge on the experiences of transgender communities in healthcare. The findings highlight the need for additional research on interventions to reduce health disparities. Future research directions are to conduct a secondary analysis with coding of qualitative data from interviews at a transgender clinic.