Island Lives

Abstract

In 2010-2011, the Vancouver Island Transgender Needs Assessment, a community-based, applied research project, sought to identify the health and social needs of trans people on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. An advisory board consisting of trans-identified community members and trans-service providers guided this descriptive analysis. A total of 54 individuals identifying as transgender participated in a survey modeled after the TransPULSE Ontario instrument. Of the participants, 43% identified on the transmasculine spectrum, 39% on the transfeminine spectrum, and 18% as transgender/ genderqueer only. Participants were surveyed in regard to education, employment, and income; housing; health care needs and services; suicidality; violence; life satisfaction and attitudes toward self; posttransition experiences; and community belonging. They reported health care, social support, and public education/acceptance as top needs. The article concludes with a specific needs profile and a community-generated set of recommendations stressing the need for an island-based information and resourcing center. is a professor in the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia.Devon MacFarlane holds a master of arts in leadership from Royal Roads University.

Supporting transvisibility and gender diversity in nursing practice and education: embracing cultural safety

“…Multiple studies in Canada and the United States have documented significant barriers to adequate healthcare among trans-persons (Bauer et al, 2014;Gapka & Rupert, 2003;Grant et al, 2011;Heinz, 2011;Heinz & MacFarlane, 2013;MacFarlane, 2015;Roller et al, 2015;Sperber, Landers, & Lawrence, 2005). In their study of 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming Americans, Grant et al (2011) report that 19% of their respondents were refused care due to their trans status (higher numbers were reported by people of color), 50% had to teach their medical providers about transgender care, and 28% postponed seeking medical care due to discrimination.…”

“…Negative experiences related to trans status were reported by 52% of ED users presenting in their felt gender (Bauer et al, 2014). Although slightly better on Vancouver Island, 23% of trans-islanders experienced poor care in EDs, and 46% reported having to educate their providers in the ED (Heinz, 2011;Heinz & MacFarlane, 2013). Clearly, trans-persons are regularly encountering healthcare providers that lack knowledge and skills surrounding the provision of safe and appropriate transgender health care, and this picture undoubtedly includes nursing staff.…”

“…While the time allocated to discussion of transgender health in Canadian nursing curricula is unclear, several studies have identified the need for greater coverage of transgender health topics in Canadian nursing and health professional programs in general (Bauer et al, 2009;Daley & MacDonnell, 2015;Gapka & Rupert, 2003;McIntyre, Daley, Rutherford, & Ross, 2011;Merryfeather & Bruce, 2014). In addition, the significant barriers to safe and appropriate health care for transgender clients reported in Canadian studies also provides some indirect evidence that coverage of transgender health is often inadequate (Bauer et al, 2009(Bauer et al, , 2014Gapka & Rupert, 2003;Heinz & MacFarlane, 2013).…”

“…Gender diversity is a neglected topic in many North American nursing programs and practice settings, which may ultimately influence the quality of health care received by those identifying outside the traditional gender binary Bauer et al, 2009Bauer et al, , 2014Carabez, Pellegrini, Mankovitz, Eliason, Ciano, et al, 2015;Daley & MacDonnell, 2015;Eliason, Dejoseph, Dibble, Deevey, & Chinn, 2011;Gapka & Rupert, 2003;Grant et al, 2011;Heinz & MacFarlane, 2013;Lim et al, 2015;MacFarlane, 2015;Merryfeather & Bruce, 2014;Roller, Sedlak, & Draucker, 2015;Walsh Brennan et al, 2012;Walsh & Hendrickson, 2015;White Hughto, Reisner, & Pachankis, 2015;Zuzelo, 2014). Feminist theory challenges the structural, political and power relations that shape the social constructions of gender in society (Connell, 1995(Connell, , 2009Schippers, 2007;Stryker, 2008).…”

Communicating While Transgender: Apprehension, Loneliness, and Willingness to Communicate in a Canadian Sample

“…They suggested that their findings "underscore the importance of communication skills and cultural sensitivity training for health care providers" (p. 13). Earlier work designed to assess needs of transgender people on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, found that the community and social belonging needs of the participants were not met and that social needs ranked even with health needs for these individuals (heinz & MacFarlane, 2013).…”