GLMA LGBT Health Digest Update

Teaching DO Students LGBT Health
In this May 1, 2014, article in The DO, the author outlines common concerns faced by LGBT patients when accessing healthcare, including seeing a healthcare provider who is not aware of or comfortable with LGBT-specific health issues. The article notes the lack of LGBT health education providers receive. “There are too few health professionals who are trained in LGBT healthcare. And you cannot rely on physicians and medical students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender themselves to deliver all that care,” says Henry Ng, MD, MPH, clinical director of LGBT health services at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and President of GLMA. Sean Tai, DO student and recipient of the AMSA/GLMA Achievement Award, notes that sexual orientation and sexual practices fall under the osteopathic principal of treating the whole patient.

Henry Ng, MD, MPH, is the President of GLMA.
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Ongoing LGBT Health Disparities Addressed by Affordable Care Act
This April 2014 AAMC Reporter post details the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for LGBT people, including increased access to insurance, provisions prioritizing cultural competence standards and training to improve LGBT health outcome and increased data collection. Additionally, the ACA has shifted more attention to how healthcare policy may contribute to negative health outcomes for LGBT people, notes Henry Ng, MD, MPH.

Henry Ng, MD, MPH, is the President of GLMA.


Trans Bodies, Tran Selves to Be Released Soon
As described in this May 1, 2014, Washington Post article, a new resource for transgender people is soon to be released. With 672 pages and “encyclopedic in scope,” Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is positioned to be the go-to resource for topics from health and law to history and politics. Reflecting on the book’s predecessor for women, Our Bodies, Ourselves, editor, Laura Erickson-Schroth, “At a time when over 90 percent of physicians were men ... it was an extremely daring and exciting thing to publish a book in which women taught other women about their bodies, their sexuality and their rights.” As the article notes, the goal of the book is to empower transgender people and provide them with a wealth of information about their lives.

Laura Erickson-Schroth is a Member of GLMA’s Board of Directors.


Defense Secretary Indicates Military Should Review Ban on Transgender Service As reported by ABC News on May 11, 2014, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has indicated the ban on transgender individuals serving in the US military "continually should be reviewed,” although not going so far as to indicate whether he believes the policy should be overturned. Hagel also said, "Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it."

HHS Expected to Lift Medicare Ban on Gender-Affirming Surgery According to this May 8, 2014, Advocate article, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to lift Medicare’s 1981 ban on gender-affirming surgeries, which claims the surgeries are “experimental” and denies any and all requests for coverage. Advocates argue the 33 year old ban is based on outdated science, which was reviewed by independent HHS panel formed last year.

Resource: SIECUS Releases New Edition of the State Profiles For ten years, SIECUS has “followed the money” to provide educators, advocates and policymakers with an annual snapshot of how federal funding is impacting sexual health education across the country. For the first time, the newly released publication, SIECUS State Profiles: A Portrait of Sexuality Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs in the States, Fiscal Year 2012 Edition, also includes a State Profile At A Glance for each state, providing an overview of adolescent sexual health education state policies, data and federal funding. Click here to access the publication.


Resource: LGBTQ Organizations Release Intimate Partner Violence Community Action Toolkits The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) in association with GLAAD, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) announce the release of two community action toolkits that provide LGBTQ communities, survivors of intimate partner violence and advocates working on their behalf, resources to address intimate partner violence on the individual and community level. The toolkits are focused specifically on intimate partner violence in transgender and people of color communities and highlight the adverse impact of intimate partner violence on transgender individuals and LGBTQ people of color. Click here to learn more.

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Conference: 5th Annual Infectious Diseases Update Friday, June 13, 2014
1:00pm – 5:00pm
New York City, NY

This half-day course consists of five lectures by leading experts from the fields of infectious diseases. There will be ample time for audience participation and opportunities to engage the speakers in dialogue about current controversies in HIV management. This Weill Cornell CME activity is designed to lead to improved patient care. The program will strive to: Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used first line antiretroviral regimens, discuss three new technologies available in the clinical microbiology laboratory, review the epidemiology and diagnostic approach to malaria, summarize the approach to managing HCV infection in 2014 and three teaching points related to outpatient infectious disease cases. To register and learn more, click here.
GLMA’s LGBT Health Digest is an electronic newsletter with information and resources for health professionals concerned about the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations.

The Digest highlights issues, events, publications and other newsworthy items pertinent to LGBT health. Please feel free to circulate the Digest to your colleagues.

To sign up, send your request to digest@glma.org. Also, to submit an item to be considered for publication in the Digest, please send your request to Emily Kane-Lee at ekanelee@glma.org

SAGE and NCTE Release Comprehensive New Resource on Transgender Older Adults

SAGE and NCTE Release Comprehensive New Resource on Transgender Older Adults



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 1, 2012
Contact: Judy Evans, SAGE, 212-741-2247 x237 / jevans@sageusa.org
Vincent Paolo Villano, NCTE, (o) 202-903-0112 (c) 202-631-9640 / vvillano@transequality.org

Download Improving the Lives of Transgender Older Adults: Recommendations for Policy and Practice

[NEW YORK, NY] Today SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released Improving the Lives of Transgender Older Adults: Recommendations for Policy and Practice, a new resource on the current state of transgender aging. Transgender older adults face unique challenges including overwhelming disparities in health and health care access, employment, housing and more. The report recognizes the importance of examining these factors as they directly affect the financial security, health and overall well-being of older transgender individuals.

"Transgender individuals face many challenges associated with aging, including declining health, diminished income and the loss of friends and family. Yet they also face additional challenges such as discrimination and hostility when accessing the services meant to support older adults," said Michael Adams, Executive Director of SAGE. "Now, with this report, policymakers and aging service providers will gain a clear picture of the current state of transgender aging, and a roadmap of what they can do to improve policies and practices to ensure that transgender older adults age successfully."

The report includes a detailed literature review, profiles of personal experiences of transgender elders around the country, and more than 60 concrete recommendations for policy makers and practitioners. The Advisory Committee of the Transgender Aging Advisory Initiative identified four priority areas for policy advocacy to improve the lives of transgender older adults based on their expected impact if accomplished, as well as the expected feasibility of accomplishing them within the next 1-2 years:

• Achieve inclusion and nondiscrimination in aging services by classifying LGBT older adults as a group with "greatest social need" and reauthorizing protections of older Americans to include LGBT people.
• Promote best practices in long-term care by developing LGBT competency trainings and providing tools for long-term care facilities while including respect for the gender identity and expression of residents in specific guidelines.
• Protect privacy in Social Security programs by updating the Social Security Administration (SSA) policies to permit individuals to change their gender designation without intrusive medical information while eliminating gender as a data field in SSA's automated verification programs.
• Build a foundation of knowledge by including questions about gender identity and sexual orientation in federally-funded population-based surveys.

Harper Jean Tobin, NCTE Policy Counsel, said, "Transgender older adults want to live healthy and independent lives and maintain dignity as they age. But this population faces unique challenges that the aging field as well as the LGBT community need to pay attention to."

SAGE and NCTE will continue to advocate for these policy changes to ensure that older transgender adults have access to the necessary services and are treated with respect.

For more information or to speak to Harper Jean Tobin or Michael Adams, please contact Vincent Paolo Villano at 202-903-0112 / vvillano@transequality.org.

To download Improving the Lives of Transgender Older Adults, or to learn more about the issues covered in the report, visit sageusa.org or transequality.org.

 

Reposted at http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com,

Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE) is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York City, SAGE is a national organization that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBT older adults and their caregivers, advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of LGBT older people, and provides training for aging providers and LGBT organizations through its National Resource Center on LGBT Aging. With offices in New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago, SAGE coordinates a growing network of 24 local SAGE affiliates in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Learn more at sageusa.org or lgbtagingcenter.org.
The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country. The National Center for Transgender Equality is a 501(c)3 organization.