Drive to sensitise health workers towards transgender women, gay men Premium
The Hindu
A group of researchers set out to find if interventions among healthcare providers can help in improving their understanding and attitude towards transgender women (TGW) and men who have sex with men (MSM).
A group of researchers set out to find if interventions among healthcare providers can help in improving their understanding and attitude towards transgender women (TGW) and men who have sex with men (MSM). They have demonstrated that a specifically designed intervention module comprising workshops and explainer videos had positive outcomes among healthcare workers in two government hospitals in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
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The intervention showed preliminary evidence for improving positive attitudes, comfort level and understanding of the healthcare issues of MSM and TGW among healthcare workers (HCW), warranting large-scale implementation research.
In an article - “Efficacy of a multi-level pilot intervention (‘Harmony’) to reduce discrimination faced by men who have sex with men and transgender women in public hospitals in India: Findings from a pre-and post-test quasi-experimental trial among healthcare workers” - published in Venereology recently, the researchers have elaborated how they tested the efficacy of an intervention among 98 healthcare workers (HCW) to reduce sexual orientation and gender identity-related stigma and discrimination faced by MSM and TGW in the two centres. The HCWs included clinicians, nurses, counsellors and other staff such as lab technicians.
One of the collaborators of the study, Sudharshini S., Associate Professor, Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College/Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said that TGW and MSM often felt that there was discrimination and lack of access to hospital services, both in the government and private sectors.
“Some of the issues faced by Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM) are limited knowledge and understanding about them among healthcare staff, resulting in suboptimal care, increased chances of negative interactions and discrimination. Some healthcare providers/staff (not all staff) look down upon SGM because of their sexual orientation/behaviour, gender identity or gender expression,” principal investigator Venkatesan Chakrapani, chairperson, Centre for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy, Chennai, said.
The researchers developed an intervention - Harmony: a half-day workshop at the group-level and four videos at the individual levels.
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