Improving health access for gender diverse children, youth, and emerging adults?

Abstract

Gender diverse people are individuals who define their gender as different from the sex they were assigned as birth. This incongruence leads to a sense of discomfort within oneself, which according to the DSM-V is called gender dysphoria. The combination of dysphoria, ongoing stress, as outlined in the Minority Stress Theory (Meyer, 2003, Dohrenwend, 2000) and the stigma related to living in a society which traditionally defines gender as binary and rejects the notion of gender as fluid, is associated with psycho-social, mental, and physical health problems. Gender diverse children and young people require support from health practitioner to assist them not only in transitioning, if this is what they choose, but also to manage ongoing and preventive health care in a system which is not always welcoming and frequently hostile to them. In 2012 the United Nations General Assembly called for universal health coverage as a goal in the post-2015 Millennium Development Goal Framework. One step in attaining this goal is universal health access which is not currently being met for gender diverse individuals. Hence, we need to work together, with those that we serve, to develop appropriate, sensitive and accessible health care for all.

Keywords: Children; adolescent; gender diverse; transgender; young adults.