In June-July 2022, Te Ngākau Kahukura hosted a series of three webinars for clinicians and other people working in primary care.
In conversation with colleagues from Gender Minorities Aotearoa, the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) and Counting Ourselves, each of these free sessions presented a different perspective on primary care and trans health, with an overall goal to improve outcomes for trans and non-binary people seeking primary healthcare. The series continued a very current and dynamic conversation about the role of primary care in trans health, models of informed consent, and how we can work together to reduce barriers and improve practice.
You can watch the webinar recordings below.
This conversation series was generously supported by The Rule Foundation.
1. Gender Minorities Aotearoa: Trans People's Experiences of Primary Care
For the first session in our webinar series, we heard from Ahi Wi-Hongi and Adeline S Greig at Gender Minorities Aotearoa about using informed consent in primary healthcare. We talked about differences between informed consent and gatekeeping, took a look at international frameworks and the Health and Disability Commissioner code, and touched on how to use an informed consent model.
Related resources
About Gender Minorities Aotearoa
Gender Minorities Aotearoa (GMA) is a nationwide transgender organisation. It is run by and for transgender people, including binary and non-binary, intersex, and irawhiti takatāpui. In the last year (2021-2022) GMA's healthcare referral system was used over 6,000 times, and they received over 1,100 referrals from healthcare providers across the country. Their Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) guide was read over 5,000 times. GMA also trained over 500 healthcare workers, particularly in mental health and addictions.
2. PATHA: Experiences of providing gender affirming healthcare in a primary care setting
For the second session in our webinar series, three GPs with a special interest in transgender healthcare shared their experiences of providing gender affirming healthcare and prescribing hormones in primary care. The discussion included some of the pathways and models which have been developed, as well as addressing some challenges and ways around them
Related resources
Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa website
Guidelines for Gender Affirming Healthcare for Gender Diverse and Transgender Children, Young People and Adults in Aotearoa, New Zealand
Primary Care Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy Initiation Guidelines written by Dr Rona Carroll and others
Maintenance GAHT prescribing for adult transgender patients - a Goodfellow MedCase written by Dr Rona Carroll
Two Goodfellow podcasts with Dr Rona Carroll: Transgender physical health; Transgender health and puberty suppression.
About PATHA
The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) is an interdisciplinary professional organisation working to promote the health, wellbeing and rights of transgender people. PATHA has over 200 members who work professionally for transgender health in clinical, academic, community, legal and other settings
3. Counting Ourselves: What the data tells us about trans and non-binary people’s experiences in primary care
For the final session in our webinar series, Jaimie Veale and Jack Byrne from the University of Waikato’s Trans Health Research Lab led an evidence-based discussion about improving the accessibility and quality of primary care services for trans and non-binary people. They drew on findings from the first Counting Ourselves survey in 2018 and more in-depth peer reviewed publications based on the survey data.
Related resources
What Counting Ourselves tells us about primary care experiences - slides from the webinar
Counting Ourselves Community Report - an overview of key findings the first Counting Ourselves survey.
Journal articles from Counting Ourselves - including Supportive interactions with primary care doctors are associated with better mental health among transgender people: results of a nationwide survey in Aotearoa/New Zealand
More than a Law Change - our last webinar with the Counting Ourselves team, talking about gender identity conversion practices.
About Counting Ourselves
Counting Ourselves is a community-led health survey for trans and non-binary people living in Aotearoa. Their community report was published in November 2019, and has been used to inform national policy, education and community support. The second Counting Ourselves survey will be launched in August 2022.