Older LGBT people's experiences and concerns with healthcare professionals and services in Ireland

Abstract

Healthcare practitioners need to be knowledgeable of, and sensitive to, LGBT issues.

Co‐producing knowledge of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) health‐care inequalities via rapid reviews of grey literature in 27 EU Member States

“…The results of the rapid reviews consistently demonstrated a range of health‐care inequalities, barriers to accessing and providing care, and discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation and sex characteristics for LGBTI people. Some LGBTI people feared negative consequences such as being treated as different or as ‘other’ whilst accessing (or attempting to access) health care . Due to the effects of discrimination and stigma, research reported that specialist mental health or psychological support services for LGBTI people where they could make meaning of adversity were lacking .…”

“…These assumptions are heard in verbal communication and seen in written communication where case notes and multidisciplinary forms often fail to recognize the lives and partnerships of LGBTI people . The actions of health professionals may be (un)intentionally insensitive towards LGBTI people . When LGBTI people are overlooked due to assumed heterosexuality, cisgenderism (non‐trans) and normative sex characteristics (intersex), the relationship between health providers and people who access care is adversely affected.…”

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people's experiences of nursing health care: An emancipatory nursing practice integrative review

“…The oppressive social norm most commonly reported by participants in the research under review was heteronormativity. For example, when LGB parents seek health care for their children or maternal health care, they face the normative heterosexist assumption that parents consist of a male and a female (Brennan & Sell, ; Chapman, Wardrop, Freeman, et al, ; Sharek et al, ; Shields et al, ).These assumptions are communicated through forms, journals, verbal communication, and orientation visits and are described by LGB parents as embarrassing (Röndahl et al, ). McIntyre and McDonald () point to the exclusionary institutional practices in care homes; the authors argue that “in many residential settings, day to day activities and corporate decisions regarding everything are underpinned by the assumptions of binary genders and heterosexual structures” (p. 132).…”

“…However, no articles argued that nurses should act as advocates for health equity or that LGB people should be involved in talking through how health services and structures can be developed to speak to health issues relevant to them. Most articles recommend the need for health care professionals to be knowledgeable of and sensitive to LGB individuals and families (Chapman, Wardrop, Freeman, et al, ; Sharek et al, ; Shields et al, ).…”

“…Regarding clinical practice, the authors featured in this review make a number of recommendations, including the following: nurses facilitating an environment where the identity disclosure of lesbian families is encouraged (Chapman, Wardrop, Freeman, et al, ; Sharek et al, ) structural changes that would facilitate co‐mothers' feelings of inclusion in maternity services (Cherguit et al, ) nursing homes developing protocols for respectful verbal communication that demonstrates sensitivity to LGB patients and their families (Kushner et al, ; Sharek et al, ) special parenthood groups for lesbians so that couples can meet with the focus on parenthood rather than sexual orientation (Röndahl et al, ) having LGBT continuous‐care settings for older lesbians (Gabrielson, ) clinicians and administrators ensuring that policies and legislations regarding lesbians in maternal health and that health professionals are sensitive to the context, functions, and constructs of all the families they serve (Brennan & Sell, ; Chapman, Wardrop, Freeman, et al, ; Cherguit et al, ). …”